Christopher Rivers is Professor of French at Mount Holyoke College. He is the author of Face Value: Physiognomical Thought in Lavater, Marivaux, Balzac, Gautier and Zola (1994) as well as a number of articles on 18th and 19th century French literature. He is also the translator and editor of Adophe Belot's 1870 novel, Mademoiselle Giraud, ma femme (2002). He is currently working on a cultural biography of the great French boxer Georges Carpentier.
Jack Johnson was the first African American heavyweight champion of the world and a seminal and iconic figure in the history of race in America.