Muhammad Ali: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies Series)

At the pinnacle of his boxing career during the 1960s and early 1970s, Muhammad Ali seemed to be a cultural symbol of the times. He has been viewed by some as a hero and by others as a rebel, but either way he is arguably the most famous American in the world. In this volume, Ali's life is described from his birth to the present, with an emphasis on his career through 1975. The work covers such topics as his various boxing matches including The Thrilla in Manilla, his religious conversion to the Nation of Islam, the Vietnam War, and his efforts to promote world peace.

At the pinnacle of his boxing career during the 1960s and early 1970s, Muhammad Ali seemed to be a cultural symbol of the times. He has been viewed by some as a hero and by others as a rebel, but either way he is arguably the most famous American in the world. This worldly admiration was perhaps best illustrated with his lighting of the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta. Ali's life is described from his birth to the present, with an emphasis on his career through 1975. The work covers such topics as his various boxing matches including "The Thrilla in Manilla," his religious conversion to the Nation of Islam, the Vietnam War, and his efforts to promote world peace. A timeline provides key events in Ali's life, and the work concludes with a bibliography of print and electronic sources for additional research.

ANTHONY O. EDMONDS is Professor of History at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He is author of The War in Vietnam (Greenwood, 1998).