Named Sportsman of the Century" in 1999 by Sports Illustrated, Muhammad Ali first came into the public eye when, as Cassius Clay, he won a Gold Medal at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960. In 1964 he stunned the boxing community with his defeat of Sonny Liston to take the heavyweight title for the first time. Shortly after, he converted to Islam and in 1966 refused to be drafted as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. He was found guilty of draft evasion, stripped of his title, sentenced to five years in prison, and banned from boxing. He returned to the ring four years later, when the Supreme Court overturned his conviction. He would go on to regain his title in 1974, rope-a-dope George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle and fight three memorable bouts against Joe Frazier culminating in the Thrilla in Manila. Diagnosed with Parkinson's syndrome in 1984, Ali was awarded the Presidential Metal of Freedom in 2005.
Utilizing classic, rare and previously unseen photographs (including one of Ali on a British chat show hosted by Eamonn Andrews, with Lucille Ball, Noel Coward and Dudley Moore), Christine Kidney charts the life of this fascinating and complex man (for many years the most famous man in the world) in and out of the ring.