
King of the World
Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero
$26.86
- Paperback
352 pages
- Release Date
1 September 2026
Summary
It was the night of February 25, 1964. A cloud of cigar smoke drifted through the ring lights. Cassius Clay threw punches into the gray floating haze and waited for the bell.
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 from Louisville, unwilling to play the noble and grateful warrior in a white world, to becoming Muhammad…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781035091379 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1035091372 |
| Author: | David Remnick, Salman Rushdie, Stuart Wilson |
| Publisher: | Pan Macmillan |
| Imprint: | Picador |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 352 |
| Release Date: | 1 September 2026 |
| Weight: | 242g |
| Dimensions: | 23mm x 130mm x 200mm |
| Series: | Picador Collection |
| Audience Age: | 18 |

Critics Review
Succeeds more than any previous book in bringing Ali into focus … as a starburst of energy, ego and ability whose like will never be seen again * Wall Street Journal *
Penetrating … reveals details that even close followers might not have known… . An amazing story * New York Times *
Nearly pulse-pounding narrative power … an important account of a period in American social history * Chicago Tribune *
A pleasure … haunting … so vivid that one can imagine Ali saying, “How’d you get inside my head, boy?” * Time *
By now we all have our notions about what Ali meant - to his time and to the history of his sport. Of course David Remnick sheds light on these subjects, but where King of the World really shines is in the ring itself. With telling detail, Remnick captures the drama, danger, beauty, and ugliness of a generation’s worth of big heavyweight fights – Bob Costa
Astute, double-hearted, irresistible. He is so completely in charge of his craft that it becomes an art. – Toni Morrison, author of Beloved
David Remnick
David Remnick has been the editor of The New Yorker since 1998. He was a staff writer for the magazine from 1992 to 1998 and, previous to that, the Washington Post’s correspondent in the Soviet Union. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his book Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. He is the author of seven books, including Holding the Note, King of the World, a biography of Muhammad Ali, and The Bridge, a biography of Barack Obama. He lives in New York City with his wife and children.
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.



