A good sports book needs conflict. It should also have high stakes. But how do you signal to readers that your tome captures the titanic clash of this or any age? Jeff Carroll’s Perfect Rivals , published Aug. 31, broadcasts its importance with a fateful subtitle: “Notre Dame, Miami, and the Battle for the Soul of College Football.” Chad Millman and Shawn Coyne’s The Ones Who Hit the Hardest , which came out on Sept. 2, uses pretty much the same subtitle in service of a slightly more sweeping argument: “The Steelers, the Cowboys, the ‘70s, and the Fight for America’s Soul.”
It’s not just sportswriters who see soul-rending conflict in their chosen field. While struggles for the soul predominate in a couple of subject areas (Islamic studies, evolution) you’re likely to find soul tug-of-war in every section of the bookstore—there’s a struggle for the soul of physics, as well as a struggle for the soul of judo. (I must disclose that these subtitles are not just a publishing industry epidemic: Slate has identified struggles for the soul of the Republican Party , figure skating , and a fantasy baseball league .)
In the list below, I’ve collected 62 battles for the soul, broken down by category. If I’m missing any book-world soul fights—or if you want to nominate another favorite book title cliché—please drop a line in the comments.
Business:
Backfire: Carly Fiorina’s High-Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett-Packard
The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism
Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley
Crime:
Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America
Getting Ghost: Two Young Lives and the Struggle for the Soul of an American City
L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City
Darwinism:
The Darwin Wars: The Scientific Battle for the Soul of Man
The Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin’s Soul
Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America’s Soul
Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America’s Soul
Economics:
The Struggle Over the Soul of Economics
Foreigners:
Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul
Ireland’s Holy Wars: The Struggle for a Nation’s Soul, 1500-2000
The Struggle for the Soul of the Nation: Czech Culture and the Rise of Communism
Vatican and the Red Flag: The Struggle for the Soul of Eastern Europe
What America Owes the World: The Struggle for the Soul of Foreign Policy
Foreigners, China subdivision:
China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power
Out of Mao’s Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China
Foreigners, South Africa subdivision:
Bring Me My Machine Gun: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa, from Mandela to Zuma
Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC
Higher education:
Harvard Rules: The Struggle for the Soul of the World’s Most Powerful University
In the Company of Scholars: The Struggle for the Soul of Higher Education
School Choice: The Struggle for the Soul of American Education
History:
Battle for the Soul: Métis Children Encounter Evangelical Protestants at Mackinaw Mission, 1823-1837
A Battle for the Soul of New York: Tammany Hall, Police Corruption, Vice and Reverend Charles Parkhurst’s Crusade Against Them,1892-1895
Caterpillars and Newfangled Religion: The Struggle for the Soul of Colonial American Presbyterianism
Fire in the City: Savonarola and the Struggle for the Soul of Renaissance Florence
The Long Pursuit: Abraham Lincoln’s Thirty-Year Struggle with Stephen Douglas for the Heart and Soul of America
Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul
The Unquiet Grave: The FBI and the Struggle for the Soul of Indian Country
With the Heart of a King: Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and the Fight for a Nation’s Soul
Islamic interest:
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation
Defenders of the Faith: Christianity and Islam Battle for the Soul of Europe, 1520-1536
Heavy Metal Islam: Rock, Resistance, and the Struggle for the Soul of Islam
In the Shadow of the Prophet: The Struggle for the Soul of Islam
Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam
Jewish interest:
Crying for Imma: Battling for the Soul on the Golan Heights
Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry
The Jewish State: The Struggle for Israel’s Soul
The Zaddik: The Battle for a Boy’s Soul
Journalism:
Salant, CBS, and the Battle for the Soul of Broadcast Journalism: The Memoirs of Richard S. Salant
Music:
Hip Hop Matters: Politics, Popular Culture, and the Struggle for the Soul of a Movement
Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction: Christianity and the Battle for the Soul of a Nation
Sonic Boom: Inside the Battle for the Soul of Music
Philosophy:
Breaking the Power of Evil: Winning the Battle for the Soul of Man
Two Kingdoms: The Battle for Man’s Soul
Politics:
The Battle for the White House … and the Soul of America
The Conservative Comeback: How to Win the Battle for the Soul of America
Irreconcilable Differences: The Battle for the Heart & Soul of America’s Animal Shelters
Stand for Something: The Battle for America’s Soul
Kennedy vs. Carter: The 1980 Battle for the Democratic Party’s Soul
Science:
Faust in Copenhagen: A Struggle for the Soul of Physics
Kuhn vs. Popper: The Struggle for the Soul of Science
Uncertainty: Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr, and the Struggle for the Soul of Science
Spiritual matters:
Green Man, Earth Angel: The Prophetic Tradition and the Battle for the Soul of the World
Keep the Faith, Change the Church: The Battle By Catholics For the Soul of Their Church
The Struggle for America’s Soul: Evangelicals, Liberals, and Secularism
The Struggle for the Soul of the SBC: Moderate Responses to the Fundamentalist Movement
Sports:
Ippon!: The Fight for Judo’s Soul
Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Technology:
Leaving Reality Behind: The Battle for the Soul of the Internet
