Redemption Song Muhammad Ali & the Spirit of the Sixties

Shortlisted for the 1999 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award and voted one of the twenty-five 'Books to Remember 2000' by the New York Public Library.

In this timely antidote tro the apolitical celebration of Muhammad Ali as 'a great American', Mike Marqusee puts the great boxer back in his true historical context too explore a crucial moment at the crossroads of popular culture and mass resistance. And, in a new afterword for this second edition, he reflects on Ali's legacy in the era of the 'war on terror'.

"A beautiful book." Arundhati Roy

Among the slew of recent Ali books, here"s one that returns the political sting to 'The Greatest' ... As Marqusee portrays him, Ali is still the righteous outlaw, as badass as ever and still in the eye of a global storm.Fascinating, well-written, entertaining and significant. Redemption Songprovides rare and important insights into Muhammad Ali and his immense global impact on a turbulent and ground-breaking era. -- Leon Gast

As Marquseecharts how Ali helped create a global consciousness, he succeeds inknocking Ali off the respectable pedestal on which American culture hadplaced him, resurrecting him as the radical figure he truly was ... avibrant historical essay.A thrilling book about a true and enduring hero ... Mike Marqusee has done him, and us, proud. -- John Pilger

A beautiful book. --Arundhati Roy

Shortlisted for the 1999 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award and voted one of twenty-five "Books to Remember 2000" by the New York Public Library

Is there a more characteristic figure of the sixties than Muhammad Ali--playful and political, popular and non-conformist, defiant and triumphant? In a unique new book, Mike Marqusee puts the great boxer back in his true historical context to explore a crucial moment at the cross-roads of popular culture and mass resistance. He traces Ali's interaction with the evolving black liberation and anti-war movements, including his brief but fascinating liaison with Malcolm X, as well as his encounters with Martin Luther King. Marqusee's elegant and forceful narrative explores the origins and impact of Ali's dramatic public stands on race and the draft, and reinterprets the "Rumble in the Jungle," shedding new light on its triumph and tragedy. Above all, he imbues Ali's story with a long-neglected international dimension, revealing why he was embraced with such warmth by diverse peoples across the globe.

This timely antidote to the apolitical celebration of Ali as "a great American" revisits the man and the period with a fresh eye, casting new light on both his courage and his confusions. And, in a new afterword for this second edition, Marqusee reflects on Ali's legacy in the era of the "war on terror."

Excellent ... Reminds us just how explosive and divisive a figure Ali was.

New edition: A new afterword considers Ali and his legacy in light of the war on terror and new connotations of Islam and the West.

Mike Marqusee's books include Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s, Redemption Song: Muhammad Ali and the Spirit of the Sixties, War Minus the Shooting, Anyone but England and If I Am Not for Myself. He is a regular contributor to the Guardian and writes a fortnightly column for the Indian newspaper The Hindu. He lives in London.