This absorbing book unravels the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career. It will appeal to those teaching and studying cultural studies, social theory, sports studies, and sociology, as well as to general readers interested in Muhammad Ali.

• A probing account of Muhammad Ali's life, which also examines the man's celebrity and his importance in global history.
  
• The first book to unravel the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after...

This culturally sensitive re-reading of the life, image and music of David Bowie offers a detailed understanding of his importance to modern times. It is a subtle and accessible exploration of the complex cultures of celebrity.

Beast. Monster. Savage. Psycho. The glowering menace of Mike Tyson has spooked us for almost two decades. And still we remain fascinated. Why? Ellis Cashmore's answer is disturbing: white society has created Tyson as vengeance for the loss of privilege produced by civil rights.

Cashmore's eviscerating analysis of Tyson's life and the culture in which he grew up, rose to prominence and descended into disgrace provokes the reader into re-thinking the role of one of the most controversial and infamous figures of recent history. Told as an odyssey-style homeward journey to Tyson's...

Frank Sinatra was only one of a handful of popular entertainers who dominated Western popular culture for six decades. From his early fame as 'the Voice' in the early 1940s, through to the high rolling, fast living 'Rat Pack' era, to the protracted Lear-like farewell tours of his twilight years, Sinatra was the epitome of cool. This compelling, consistently insightful book portrays Sinatra in his many contradictory hues of ambition, generosity, menace and vituperation. The book asks why Sinatra's public character which mixed insufferable hauteur with soapy populism and nobility with the...

The Beckham enigma continues. Since the publication of Cashmore's challenging social biography in 2003, the working-class kid from the East London has left Manchester and conquered the world. Undisputedly one of the world's most famous men, Beckham has transcended sport to become an all-purpose cultural icon for the twenty-first century.


What are the sources of Beckham's godlike status? Why does someone who looks good, but speaks in platitudes and does little but play football, command the adulation of the planet? By dissecting his life and setting it in context of the age...