Bare Fists

It is impossible to ignore the sheer number of boxing stories that Robert E. Howard wrote. Serious or funny, spooky or adventurous, these stories represent a fierce creative outburst that would pave the way later for his western hero, Breckenridge Elkins. In these stories we see Howard's craft pushed from mere construction to passionate involvement. He took all of his interests and peppered them through the various boxing stories. He wrote them faster than the magazine could print them. Clearly, he loved what he was doing. When Howard could write no more, he went on to draft Conan and the aforementioned Elkins, who owes much in style and content to the Costigan stories. The fight stories are a joy to read and reread. They are funny, bawdy, picaresque, and violent. Presented here, as they were originally printed, they perfectly showcase why Robert E. Howard was one of the greatest adventure writers of the 20th century.

This text takes a look at the forgotten world of bare-knuckle prize-fighting, from the heyday of pugilism in the 18th century, to its extinction at the end of the 19th, and its re-emergence this century in the form of illegal underground bouts.

This early work by Robert E. Howard was originally published in 1931 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Texas Fists' is a story in the Sailor Steve Costigan series about a travelling boxer. Robert Ervin Howard was born in Peaster, Texas in 1906. During his youth, his family moved between a variety of Texan boomtowns, and Howard – a bookish and somewhat introverted child – was steeped in the violent myths and legends of the Old South. At fifteen Howard began to read the pulp magazines of the day, and to write more seriously. The December 1922 issue of his high school newspaper featured two of his stories, 'Golden Hope Christmas' and 'West is West'. In 1924 he sold his first piece – a short caveman tale titled 'Spear and Fang' – for $16 to the not-yet-famous Weird Tales magazine. Howard's most famous character, Conan the Cimmerian, was a barbarian-turned-King during the Hyborian Age, a mythical period of some 12,000 years ago. Conan featured in seventeen Weird Tales stories between 1933 and 1936 which is why Howard is now regarded as having spawned the 'sword and sorcery' genre. The Conan stories have since been adapted many times, most famously in the series of films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Blending historical anecdote, biographical detail, and social analysis, "Bare Fists" forms a powerful rediscovery of the strange, forgotten world of bare-knuckle prize fighting. 110 illustrations.

At this time, it is the summer evening, and the dusk covers the earth, and the heat of the day gradually recedes. The blue full moon hangs overhead, sprinkling a piece of silver ash, and the frogs and insects in the rice fields are full of interest and singing

Ted 'Little Boy Blue' Taylor has replaced his estranged father Ron - a disgraced former heavyweight champion on the cusp of an unexpected comeback - as the darling of Australian boxing. But after two uninspiring losses, he is failing to live up to the expectations that have always weighed so heavily upon him. Ted's battles are not isolated to his sport: a painful history of alcoholism, domestic abuse and ties to the underworld of boxing has a firm hold on the Taylor family. Generational trauma and guilt are not Ted's only inheritance. Now he is silently enduring the effects of years of concussions - in the ring, and in childhood at the hands of his father - which are threatening to end his career prematurely. Ted is trained by his grandfather, a Vietnam vet seeking escape from his demons through drinking and gambling. Pop manages to find a certain peace in his love for his sport and his grandson, although he is unknowingly causing damage by trying to protect Ted from the father-son showdown that the industry is baying for. When someone from the world beyond boxing enters his life, Ted begins to see a new, more hopeful future for himself - but only if he has the courage to walk away from his family's volatile legacy. By finding the strength to choose, can he free them all?