Muhammad Ali : The Greatest By John Hennessey
Muhammad Ali: The Greatest
The Comprehensive, Heavy-Gauge Chronicle of Boxing Supremacy, Sociopolitical Defiance, and an Enduring Global Legacy
The Comprehensive, Heavy-Gauge Chronicle of Boxing Supremacy, Sociopolitical Defiance, and an Enduring Global Legacy
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Muhammad Ali: The Greatest
- Author: John Hennessey
- Publisher: Bison Books Ltd, London
- Publication Date: 1991
- ISBN-10: 0861248457
- ISBN-13: 9780861248452
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing. Large-Format Illustrated Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher’s premium heavy-gauge cloth-bound hardcover casing with vibrant spine lettering.
- Physical Format: Large Quarto (4to), 96 pages. Lavishly illustrated and enhanced with over 100 historical black-and-white and full-colour archival photography plates mapping his historic title battles, civil rights activism, and global ambassador tours.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Used - Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The original large-format hardcover boards present in beautiful, structurally sound condition. The cloth binding remains unyielding and uniform in color, showing no vertical spine-lean, internal structural collapse, or core degradation. The corner tips remain sharp and square.
- Interior: The internal text block is exceptionally clean, bright, and robustly bound. The pages are free of user highlighting, underline annotations, library processing stamps, owner name inscriptions, or dog-ears.
- Listing Enhancements & Provenance: The book features minor, historic old tape residue marks on the inner fixed endpapers from a past protective lining, which is completely typical for early 1990s large-format collector volumes. It has been well-maintained and looked after thus far.
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The Dust Jacket: Used - Very Good (VG)
- Condition Detail: The original illustrated paper dust jacket is present, whole, and completely intact under a premium Cellophane cover. The jacket faces show only some limited signs of standard storage wear and tear along the outer margins, keeping its bold design elements and striking photographic contrast bright and highly presentable.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1991—coinciding with the 25th anniversary of some of his most legendary early title defenses—Muhammad Ali: The Greatest stands as an exceptional visual and narrative archive of the ultimate cultural icon of the 20th century. This comprehensive account meticulously tracks the life and times of Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay), charting his meteoric rise from childhood obscurity in Louisville, Kentucky, to becoming the finest heavyweight boxer of the 1960s and 1970s—if not of all time.
Author John Hennessey strips down both the athletic genius and the complex sociology behind the myth, delivering an immediate, raw window into legendary encounters including the "Rumble in the Jungle" against George Foreman and the brutal "Thrilla in Manila" against Joe Frazier. Beyond his revolutionary rope-a-dope tactics and explosive hand speed, the text examines Ali's profound role off the canvas as a courageous champion of the needy, a fierce civil rights activist who sacrificed his prime years to oppose the Vietnam War draft, and an enduring global celebrity. Enhanced with over 100 definitive photographs, this scarce first-edition quarto used collectible book acts as an indispensable primary historical archive capturing a sporting titan whose legacy permanently reshaped the world.
Author Profile: John Hennessey
John Hennessey is a highly distinguished British author, sports historian, and veteran boxing journalist. Renowned for his meticulous archival research, sharp narrative pacing, and deep sociological understanding of combat sports, Hennessey has authored numerous critically acclaimed historical and biographical volumes tracking elite heavyweights and Olympic history.
Hennessey’s unique literary talent allows him to cut through standard media sensationalism to present complex cultural figures with absolute balance and clarity. His expert handling of technical boxing mechanics, promotional contract records, and political histories ensures that this illustrated biography serves as an authoritative, definitive primary historical record of Muhammad Ali's monumental global legacy.
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