By Jonathan Eig. The definitive biography of an American icon, from a New York Times best-selling author with unique access to Ali’s inner circle. The Champ was the wittiest, the prettiest, the strongest, the bravest, and, of course, the greatest as he told us himself. Muhammad Ali was one of the twentieth century’s most fantastic figures and arguably the most famous man on the planet.

But until now, he has never been the subject of a complete, unauthorized biography. Jonathan Eig, hailed by Ken Burns as one of America’s master storytellers, radically reshapes our understanding of the complicated man who was Ali. Eig had access to all the key people in Ali’s life, including his three surviving wives and his managers. He conducted more than 500 interviews and uncovered thousands of pages of previously unreleased FBI and Justice Department files, as well dozens of hours of newly discovered audiotaped interviews from the 1960s. Collectively, they tell Ali’s story like never before—the story of a man who was flawed and uncertain and brave beyond belief. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2017), English, 640 pages.