IN 1964 the newly-crowned heavyweight champion of the world, Cassius Clay, shocked the establishment by announcing that he had, apparently out of the blue, joined the Nation of Islam and adopted the name Muhammad Ali. In this immensely readable treatise, Mike Marqusee details the complex context in which Ali invented himself and moved towards his destiny, "a fusion of black pride with universal humanism". Marqusee sends the reader on a journey which acts as a primer on the development of black consciousness in the 20th century, and includes along the way a discussion on the evolution of "the Black Atlantic", and insightful portraits of, among others, Paul Robson, Floyd Patterson, Sam Cooke, Jackie Robinson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Bob Dylan and, crucially, Malcolm X. Indeed, Ali's intense if brief relationship with Malcolm was fundamental in his development. Entertaining and thought-provoking.