The Worlds Fastest Man, Michael Kranish
The Worlds Fastest Man, Michael Kranish
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The World's Fastest Man
The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America's First Black Sports Hero

Author: Michael Kranish

Narrator: David Sadzin

Unabridged: 11 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/07/2019


Synopsis

In this “sharp-eyed account of a nearly forgotten African-American sports legend” (Publishers Weekly)—the remarkable Major Taylor who became the world’s fastest bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era—“Kranish has done historians and fans a service by reminding us that such immortals as Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods all followed in Major Taylor’s wake” (The Washington Post).

In the 1890s, the nation’s promise of equality had failed spectacularly. While slavery had ended with the Civil War, the Jim Crow laws still separated blacks from whites, and the excesses of the Gilded Age created an elite upper class. When Major Taylor, a young black man, announced he wanted to compete in the nation’s most popular and mostly white man’s sport, cycling, Birdie Munger, a white cyclist who once was the world’s fastest man, declared that he could help turn the young black athlete into a champion.

Twelve years before boxer Jack Johnson and fifty years before baseball player Jackie Robinson, Taylor faced racism at nearly every turn—especially by whites who feared he would disprove their stereotypes of blacks. In The World’s Fastest Man, years in the writing, investigative journalist Michael Kranish reveals new information about Major Taylor based on a rare interview with his daughter and other never-before-uncovered details from Taylor’s life. Kranish shows how Taylor indeed became a world champion, traveled the world, was the toast of Paris, and was one of the most chronicled black men of his day.

From a moment in time just before the arrival of the automobile when bicycles were king, the populace was booming with immigrants, and enormous societal changes were about to take place, “both inspiring and heartbreaking, this is an essential contribution to sports history” (Booklist, starred review). The World’s Fastest Man “restores the memory of one of the first black athletes to overcome the drag of racism and achieve national renown” (The New York Times Book Review).

About Michael Kranish

Michael Kranish is an investigative political reporter for The Washington Post. He is the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Trump Revealed, John F. Kerry, The Real Romney, and the author of The World’s Fastest Man and Flight from Monticello: Thomas Jefferson at War. He was the recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists Award for Washington Correspondence in 2016. Visit MichaelKranish.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Howard on December 01, 2022

5 Stars for The Worlds Fastest Man: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclists Major Taylor (audiobook) by Michael Kranish read by David Sadzin. This is a really well written biography about an amazing man. Major Taylor became the first African American sports superstar, 50 years before Jackie Robinson. Cyc......more

Goodreads review by Moonkiszt on January 14, 2023

Learning about Major Taylor was one of the best things I did on the first day of this year! Starting out life in 1928, Indiana, he soon found all was not going to be easy, and life proved that he would have to fight to the very end of his days. One thing he found out early as well was that he loved s......more

Goodreads review by Steve on July 19, 2019

A very good (enjoyable, informative) piece of biography (and, more broadly, history and sports/cycling history) that also makes a nice contribution to a nice, diverse, growing literature that (effectively, importantly) reminds us how horrific the nation's history is with regard to race (in this case......more

Goodreads review by Susan on February 27, 2020

What I loved about this book was the way the author told Major Taylor’s story, setting it in context with current events of the day. I’ve read another biography of Major Taylor, but this book goes to great pains to point out the rampant racism that Taylor endured. You cannot read the appalling quote......more

Goodreads review by Lynn on September 19, 2019

Major Taylor, a top cyclist at the turn of the 20th century. He Was African American and struggled not only to be at the top of his game but defy the racists. That constantly tried to pull him down. Good book.......more


Quotes

"David Sadzin offers a solid narration that reflects the author's straightforward style in this biography. Marshall 'Major' Taylor was a professional bicycle racer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because he was black, he had to battle more than speedy competitors. While he fought bigotry both on and off the track throughout his career, racial prejudice forced him to find his greatest success overseas. Without any false emotion, Sadzin varies his pacing to match the dramatic narrative. Direct quotes are few and are usually short, so Sadzin wisely introduces them with only momentary pauses. Overall, this is an engaging story narrated in an equally engaging way."