"Discipline and Indulgence provides an effective exploration of the way that seemingly mundane activities like football actually contain immense cultural significance ... Montez de Oca adds a valuable contribution to the growing body of Cold War scholarship by emphasizing the role of sport—particularly college football—in linking identities, bodies, and politics for Americans."
— Gender & Society
"Montez de Oca analyzes the relationships between sport, militarism, and US nationalism in very compelling ways, breaking new ground in the understanding of everyday social organization and significance. Recommended."
— Choice
"The book is an accessible and well-written blend of history and sociology and contributes important new perspectives to the scholarly understanding of college football, masculinity, politics, and media during the Cold War."
— Journal of American Culture
"Discipline and Indulgence is a concise, well-researched, and compelling work that highlights important themes of twentieth-century American history."
— H-War
"This is an important, compelling, and cogently argued analysis of the complex relationship among sport, militarism, and American nationalism during the Cold War era."
— David L. Andrews, Physical Cultural Studies, Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland
"Theoretically grounded and empirically rich, this book breaks new ground: moving beyond traditional football histories, Montez de Oca investigates everyday engagements with popular social structures and meanings."
— Mary G. McDonald, Department of Kinesiology and Health, Miami University
"Discipline and Indulgence is a superb illustration of how sport creates, maintains, and reinforces shared meanings, identities, norms, and other important aspects of culture. Filled with rich data from of a wide variety of primary sources, the author produced a theoretically sound and thorough analysis of college football and the American way of life during the early Cold War."
— American Journal of Sociology