"Fraser's rousing historical novel tracks the rise and fall of the real-life boxer Tom Molineaux, a Virginia slave who fought his way to freedom and then to celebrity in England in the early 1800s."--New York Times Book Review Bringing historical fact spiritedly to life, Fraser tells the rollicking tale of how "the Black Ajax" became as famous a figure in England as Napoleon -- and just as much a threat to its establishment -- before he passed into boxing legend and created a precedent for modern black prizefighters.