Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X

by Randy Roberts, Johnny Smith

Overview

The first book to bring to life the influential friendship between Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali



In 1962, no one believed that the obnoxious Cassius Clay would ever become the heavyweight champion of the world. But Malcolm X saw the potential in Clay, not just for boxing greatness, but as a means of spreading the Nation of Islam's radical message. Malcolm secretly molded Clay into Muhammad Ali--a patriotic boxing star in public, and a radical reformer behind the scenes. Soon, however, their friendship would sour, with disastrous and far-reaching consequences.


Based on previously untapped sources, Blood Brothers is the first book to offer an in-depth portrait of this complex bond. An extraordinary narrative of love, betrayal, and violence, this story is a window into the lives of two of our greatest national icons, and the tumultuous period in American history that they helped to shape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465093229
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	11/01/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	236,333
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Randy Roberts is a distinguished professor of history at Purdue University. An award-winning author, he has written biographies of iconic athletes and celebrities, including Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Bear Bryant, and John Wayne. Roberts lives in Lafayette, Indiana.


Johnny Smith is an assistant professor of American history at Georgia Tech. He is the author of The Sons of Westwood: John Wooden, UCLA, and the Dynasty that Changed College Basketball. Smith lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Preface: A Dream Deferred
Prologue: Behind the Veil
1. The Mother Ship in Miami
2. God’s Angry Man
3. “Who Made Me Is Me”
4. In Cold Blood
5. The Winter of Boxing
6. Apollo
7. Hide Your Cat
8. The Great Pretender
9. Back to the Grave
10. Trouble in Miami
11. The Crusade
12. Free to Be Me
13. The Shakeup
14. An American Nightmare
15. King of the World
16. The Muslim Champ
17. Worthy of Death
Epilogue: Once the Hate Is Gone

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the 2017 North American Society for Sport History Book Award

"[An] absorbing and provocative new book... An engrossing and important book."—David Margolick, Wall Street Journal

"A rigorously researched book that gracefully pivots between the world of the ring and the racial politics of the early '60s."
—New York Times Book Review

"Earnest and...smartly constructed."
—Washington Post

"Exhaustively researched and tautly written.... The authors unearth reams of new evidence, shine light on long-overlooked episodes, and hack away at the barnacles of mythology, thereby giving us the finest portrait yet of the doomed relationship that transformed Cassius Clay into Muhammad Ali."—James Rosen, National Review

"Though their individual lives have been explored through previous books and movies, Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and
Malcolm X delves into the close kinship these men shared, and the reasons it ultimately fell apart."—Economist

"This book offers a significant contribution to serious studies of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and the Nation of Islam."
—Library Journal

"The authors give us a thorough examination of the relationship between the two icons in the context of the black experience and the turbulent 1960s.... We're brought back to the champ's early boxing days and see how the brash Ali whom America came to know developed."—New York Post

"The broad outlines of the Ali/Malcolm drama are well known, but Roberts and Smith emphasize how crucial each was to the other's destiny: Ali's as a global figure of black pride and Malcolm's as a martyred black visionary. They provide more exhaustive detail than previously available, aided by newly released FBI files and personal papers. And they infuse the tale with sharp insights and an impending sense of tragedy."—City Journal

"[A] provocative history.... Roberts and Smith map the relationship between the troubled icons in painstaking detail and debunk long-held assumptions about their break.... Roberts and Smith bring a fresh perspective to the story in the civil rights movement, and capture the ferment of the broader era."—Publishers Weekly

"[Roberts and Smith] sharply detail Malcolm's growing disillusionment with Elijah,
his heartbreak at the loss of Ali's allegiance, and the ugly dynamic within the Nation that left the defiant minister murdered. A
page-turning tale from the 1960s about politics and sports and two proud, extraordinary men whose legacies endure."—Kirkus Reviews

"Thanks to Randy
Roberts and Johnny Smith's enthralling narrative we now have a better understanding of how a complex relationship was born, and how it fell apart."
—The Times

"A unique hybrid of race,
politics, and sports; it is easy to read yet gives rise to sober reflection. It fills a gap in our understanding of one of the most fascinating relationships in American history."—Allen Barra, Boston Globe

"Roberts and Smith portray both of these courageous and controversial, inspired and inspiring men with fresh, stinging clarity, and extend our perception of the interconnectivity of race, religion, sports, and media during this violent and transformative era, which is so very germane today."—Booklist

"In convincing detail, Blood
Brothers traces Ali's rise to international celebrity while
Malcolm was stalked and harassed by the Fruit of
Islam, the paramilitary group that enforced obedience to the church."
—Los Angeles Times

"In the most detailed account to date of this fascinating bond, professors of history Randy Roberts
(Purdue) and Johnny Smith (Georgia Tech) unveil a story few Americans know, arguing that Ali and Malcolm were much more than mere acquaintances; their symbiotic relationship, with Ali as pupil and
Malcolm as mentor, was deeply important to each man. From beginning to end, Blood Brothers is a story of transformation."
—Dallas Morning News

"Blood
Brothers is shedding light on the secret friendship between boxing great Muhammad Ali and civil rights leader Malcolm
X."—Washington Times

"In this illuminating joint effort, Blood Brothers tells the story of a strange friendship marked by initial affection, cold manipulation, and ultimate estrangement."
—Howell Raines, former executive editor of the New York Times

"There's brilliant history in this crackling story of two men whose tragic brotherhood changed America. Absorbing and essential reading."
—Robert Lipsyte, former sports columnist for the New York Times

From the Publisher

12/21/2015
In this provocative history, sports historians Roberts and Smith examine the relationship between two central figures of the 1960s: Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali. The day after Cassius Clay’s unlikely upset of Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title, he shook up the world one more time by pledging allegiance to the Nation of Islam. In the eyes of America, Clay’s transformation into Muhammad Ali was blamed on the man who had stood at his side over the previous months: the notorious NOI minister Malcolm X. The truth, as Roberts and Smith make pellucid, was far more complex. Ali spurned Malcolm for the Nation, and Ali’s meteoric rise makes a disturbing contrast to the persecution and murder of his former mentor and friend. Roberts and Smith map the relationship between the troubled icons in painstaking detail and debunk long-held assumptions about their break. At the same time, they too easily assign motivations and opinions to both men that, while intriguing, seem largely speculative. Malcolm may indeed have seen Ali as his path to reaching a larger audience, but it’s hard to believe that the activist was as naive about the boxer as the authors make him out to be. Nevertheless, Roberts and Smith bring a fresh perspective to the story in the civil rights movement, and capture the ferment of the broader era. Christy Fletcher, Fletcher and Co. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 01/01/2016
Shortly before becoming heavyweight champion of the world in 1964, Cassius Clay Jr. (b. 1942) became involved with the black supremacist sect, the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X (1925–65), a fiery though thoughtful minister within the sect, formed a symbiotic relationship with Clay. Malcolm helped Clay develop as a worldwide figure, and having Clay as a protégé served the ambitious Malcolm. Over time, Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali, had to choose between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad, the aging and less charismatic leader of the Nation of Islam. Coauthors Roberts (history, Purdue Univ.) and Smith (history, Georgia Tech Univ.) argue that in losing Ali, Malcolm lost the centerpiece of his ascendance and then his protective cover; within months Malcolm was assassinated by his former cohorts. VERDICT This book offers a significant contribution to serious studies of Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and the Nation of Islam.—Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L.

Library Journal

★ 2015-11-29
How Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali and then an enemy of his mentor and friend Malcolm X. These two titanic lives intersected for less than two years, with huge consequences for each man. Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam's most visible minister and spokesman, confirmed the young Clay's deep suspicions about the white man and wooed him for the Nation. Malcolm's incendiary rhetoric astonished Clay, who believed God protected him. How else could Malcolm be so bold and remain alive? In the run-up to Clay's historic upset of champion Sonny Liston, Malcolm filled the young boxer with confidence, privately advised him, supplied him with a business adviser, and shared many meals and moments of intimate family time. Malcolm loved Clay and quickly understood his potential cultural impact and the glittering youth's value as a propaganda tool for the sclerotic Nation. When Clay denounced his "slave name" and was anointed as Muhammad Ali, Malcolm understood he'd lost an intense power struggle with the Nation's leader, Elijah Muhammad, and that it was only a matter of time before he'd be killed. Roberts (History/Purdue Univ.; A Team for America: The Army-Navy Game that Rallied a Nation at War, 2011, etc.) and Smith (American History/Georgia Tech; The Sons of Westwood: John Wooden, UCLA, and the Dynasty that Changed College Basketball, 2013, etc.) minutely examine the construction and tortured dissolution of this friendship, highlighting the influence of their fathers on their sensitive sons and the varying masks they adopted to navigate their worlds of prizefighting and politics. Backdropping the authors' main tale are incisive looks at Ali's showmanship, his almost single-handed resurrection of boxing, and the befuddlement of sportswriters confronted with his conversion. They sharply detail Malcolm's growing disillusionment with Elijah, his heartbreak at the loss of Ali's allegiance, and the ugly dynamic within the Nation that left the defiant minister murdered. A page-turning tale from the 1960s about politics and sports and two proud, extraordinary men whose legacies endure.

Kirkus Reviews

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