ARTHUR ASHE

An authoritative biography of iconic tennis star Arthur Ashe - a pioneering athlete who, after breaking the color barrier in tennis, went on to become an influential civil rights activist and public intellectual.

Arthur Ashe became the first African-American to play for the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1963, and two years later he won the NCAA singles championship. Turning professional in 1969, he soon became one of the world's most successful tennis stars, winning the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. After retiring in 1980, he served four years as the U.S. Davis Cup captain and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.

Drawing on over one hundred interviews, this revelatory biography chronicles Ashe's rise to stardom on the court. From 1979 on, he was forced to deal with a serious heart condition that led to multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, one of which left him HIV-positive. After devoting the last ten months of his life to AIDS activism, he died in February 1993 at the age of forty-nine, leaving an inspiring legacy of dignity, integrity , and active citizenship.

Based on prodigious research, including more than one hundred interviews, Raymond Arsenault's insightful and compelling biography puts Ashe in the context of both his time and the long struggle of African-American athletes seeking equal opportunity and respect.


Raymond Arsenault is the author of several acclaimed and prize-winning books, including Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice and The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America.