Book excerpt: Recently recognized by Sports Illustrated as still the best-known athlete in the world, Muhammad Ali has played a fascinating role in American culture, with an influence that has reached far beyond sports. In addition to Ali the boxer, there are Ali the Black Muslim, Ali the cultural icon, Ali the anti-war protestor, Ali the telecelebrity, Ali the narcissist, and more. And it is these various incarnations -- Ali as a window onto his time, our time -- that build upon each other in this book to give us a vivid portrait of one of the greatest protagonists in the ring of public history. As the first book by scholars on the significance of his life and times, Muhammad Ali, the People's Champ is a fresh reassessment of the place of a giant sports idol and the role he has played in American history. Ali both shaped and reflected the times in which he lived. He touched the lives of people in a way unprecedented by almost any sports figure before or since. The contributors conclude that we can have no full understanding of our era without him. A volume in the series Sport and Society, edited by Benjamin G. Rader and Randy Roberts