Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta by Aiello, Thomas

Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta

Return of the King tells the story of Muhammad Ali's return to the ring in 1970, after...
$55.19 AUD
$55.19 AUD
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Author: Thomas Aiello
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $55.19

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Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta by Aiello, Thomas

Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta

$55.19

Return of the King: The Rebirth of Muhammad Ali and the Rise of Atlanta

$55.19
Author: Thomas Aiello
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Return of the King tells the story of Muhammad Ali's return to the ring in 1970, after a more than three-year suspension for refusing his draft notice as a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. With Ali's career still in doubt, he found new support in shifting public opinion about the war and in Atlanta, a city still governed by white supremacy, but a white supremacy decidedly different from that of its neighbor cities in the Deep South.

Atlanta had been courting and landing professional sports teams in football, basketball, and baseball since the end of 1968. An influential state politician, Leroy Johnson, Georgia's first Black state senator since Reconstruction, was determined to help Ali return after his exile. The state had no boxing commission to prevent Ali from fighting there, so Johnson made it his mission for Ali to make a comeback in Georgia. Ali's opponent would be Jerry Quarry, the top heavyweight contender and, more important, a white man who had spoken out against Ali's objection to the war.

In Return of the King, Thomas Aiello examines the history of Muhammad Ali, Leroy Johnson, and the city of Atlanta, while highlighting an important fight of Ali's that changed the trajectory of his career. Although the fight between Ali and Quarry lasted only three rounds, those nine minutes changed boxing forever and were crucial to both the growth of Atlanta and the rebirth of Ali's boxing career.


Author: Thomas Aiello
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 12/01/2025
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.51lbs
Size: 9.15h x 6.37w x 1.27d
ISBN: 9781496244185


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/13/2025
Booklist 11/01/2025

About the Author
Thomas Aiello is a professor of history and Africana studies at Valdosta State University. He is the author of White Ice: Race and the Making of Atlanta Hockey and Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979.

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