King of the World

<p><b>'Reveals details that even close followers might not have known. . . . An amazing story' – <i>New York Times</i><br><br>Revealing the extraordinary rise of a young fighter from Louisville who changed the world of sports, <i>King of the World </i>chronicles the incredible battles fought by Muhammad Ali inside the ring and out.</b><br><br><i>It was the night of February 25, 1964. A cloud of cigar smoke drifted through the ring lights. Cassius</i> <i>Clay threw punches into the gray floating haze and waited for the bell.</i><br><br>When Cassius Clay burst onto the sports scene in the 1950s, he broke the mould. He changed the world of sports and went on to change the world itself: from his early fights as Cassius Clay, the young, wiry man, unwilling to play the noble and grateful warrior in a white world, to becoming Muhammad Ali, the voice of black America and the most recognized face on the planet.<br><br><i>King of the World</i> is the story of an incredible rise to power. With grace and power, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Remnick tells of a transcendent athlete and entertainer, a rapper before rap was born. Ali was a mirror of his era, a dynamic figure in the racial and cultural clashes of his time. <i>King of the World</i> is a classic biography and a book worthy of America’s most dynamic modern hero.<br><br><b>Now part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the very best of modern literature.</b></p>