Sign-In
Cart
The Reign: A Narrative History of the Life of Marshall "Major" Taylor
Paperback
Series: The Fastest Human on Earth, Book 2
Biographies GeneralAthletesCycling
Publisher: Inkylines & Words
Published: Sep 1 2026
Pages: 340
Weight: 1.00
Height: 0.76 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Montreal, 1899. Two brothers ride as one machine to box him in for the world championship, a judge robs him of the half mile in broad daylight, and he takes the theft without a word of protest. Then the final goes off, and he unleashes the jump no rival has ever learned to answer, and crosses the line as the champion of the entire world. The band strikes up The Star Spangled Banner, his anthem, played for a Black man, for once, as though he actually belongs to the flag it honors. He will say for the rest of his life it is the proudest moment he ever knew, and the saddest, because it took a foreign track to give it to him.
He comes home a hero and is immediately fined five hundred dollars by his own federation for the privilege of racing for the American title, which he has already proven he can win. He pays it. He wins the title anyway and wears both crowns, world and national, at once. When his sponsors hand him a fashionable chainless drive that quietly steals a fraction off his jump, he rides it, feels the theft in his own legs, and switches back to a chain the moment he can, vindicated by nothing but his own speed.
Then he crosses an ocean. Paris empties its shopfronts just to watch him walk down a street. The great French idol Edmond Jacquelin beats him once before a stunned crowd, and Taylor comes back and beats him in the rematch before a hundred thousand people screaming his name in a language he does not speak. In Australia, he travels the continent in his own private railway car, and five hundred cyclists meet his train in Adelaide in a silence so total it is louder than any cheer. Thirty thousand pack a single afternoon in Sydney. His daughter was born there, and he named her for the city that gave him that welcome.
But the same combine that fouled him at home crosses the ocean to sabotage him even in paradise, and six years of unrelenting racing at the highest pitch a human body can sustain finally collapse in on him. In 1904 he walked away from the sport, undefeated by any man who ever beat him honestly.
He beat the whole world, twice over, on three continents. He never once beat the country he was riding for.
THE FASTEST HUMAN ON EARTH follows Marshall Major Taylor across three volumes and a lifetime, from an Indianapolis boyhood to the summit of the cycling world and the long reckoning that followed, each volume anchored to the documented record of a champion his country was so slow to remember.
Also from
Williams, Carl
One Question Deeper: 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups That Take You Beyond Small Talk
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: Mothers & Daughters. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for Mothers and Daughters at Every Age
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: Family & Road Trip. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for Every Seat in the Car
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Homemade Vinegar - A Beginner's Guide: Infusing Vinegars at Home & Turning Kitchen Scraps into Delicious Flavours
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: Marriage. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for the Life You Built Together
Williams, Carl
Paperback
What To Do When You Don't Have $500: Surviving the Bills That Won't Wait and the Cash That Isn't There
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: First Dates & New Friends. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for Getting Past Small Talk
Williams, Carl
Paperback
What To Do When the Noise Won't Stop: Living After Survival, When Quiet Feels Unsafe
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Unmasking the Lie: How Black Communities Can Heal from Gaslighting and Reclaim Their Power
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Spice Mixes & Curry Pastes: Homemade Blends for Authentic Flavour in Every Dish
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Under Cloak of Night: A Novel of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
Williams, Carl
Paperback
What To Do When You Don't Have $500 Surviving the Bills That Won't Wait and the Cash That Isn't There
Williams, Carl
Paperback
The First Uniform: A Novel of Freedom, Dust, and the Birth of the Buffalo Soldiers
Williams, Carl
Paperback
D-Day and the Volcanic Dust: A Novel of the Montford Point Marines at Iwo Jima
Williams, Carl
Paperback
The Fight to Serve: A Novel of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Curry House Sides & Starters: Bhajis, pakoras, samosas, kebabs and chutneys - crisp, light, and reliable every time
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Jam, Jelly & Marmalade: A Complete Beginner's Guide to Foolproof Preserves, Curds & Chutneys
Williams, Carl
Paperback
30-Minute Indian Curries for Busy People: Quick, Flavour-Packed Recipes You Can Make Any Night of the Week
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: Parents & Teens. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for Conversations That Go Both Ways
Williams, Carl
Paperback
The Beginner's Guide to Gut Health: Fermented Foods That Heal - A Simple Guide to Better Digestion, Immunity, and Energy
Williams, Carl
Paperback
The Price of Loyalty: A Novel of Accusation, Migration, and How Many Sacrifices One People Can Make
Williams, Carl
Paperback
The Beginner's Guide to Composting: Turn Waste into Garden Gold - Simple, Proven Home Methods
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Steppin' Out II Black, Free, and Global: A Practical Guide to Life Beyond U.S. Borders
Williams, Carl
Paperback
What to Do When the Noise Won't Stop: Living After Survival, When Quite Feels Unsafe
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Money In The Gaps: A Field Guide to Turning System Failures into opportunities
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: Mothers & Sons. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for Mothers and Sons, from the Teen Years On
Williams, Carl
Paperback
One Question Deeper: At Work. 280 Questions and 560 Follow-Ups for Better Conversations at Work
Williams, Carl
Paperback
Also in
Athletes
The Badger: The Life of Bernard Hinault and the Legacy of French Cycling
Fotheringham, William
Paperback
Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins
Bremer, Dick
Bruton, Jim
Hardcover
Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird
O'Brien, Keith
Hardcover
The Messi Effect: How the Global Legend Changed the Future of American Soccer
Tenorio, Paul
Hardcover
We Are the World (Cup): A Personal History of the World's Greatest Sporting Event
Bennett, Roger
Hardcover
Blue Blood: An Insider's Journey Through Michigan Football's Past, Present, and Perfect Season
Lester, Matt
Hardcover
Fight Through It: The Battles, Breakthroughs, and Beauty of Becoming Resilient Enough to Never Give Up
Hall, Roy, Jr.
Paperback
When We Were Young and Fearless: Kevin, Russell, James, and the Making of the Modern NBA
Abrams, Jonathan
Hardcover
The Long Run: Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit, Grete Waitz, and the Decade That Made the Marathon Cool
Dugard, Martin
Hardcover
The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner
Vaccaro, Mike
Hardcover
Earned: The True Cost of Greatness from One of Hockey's Fiercest Competitors
Pronger, Chris
Hardcover
The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership
Walsh, Craig
Walsh, Bill
Jamison, Steve
Paperback
Duct Tape and Determination: A True Story of Turning Devastation Into Grit
Hunt-Broersma, Jacky
Hardcover
Another Life: Discovering the Healing Power of Purpose on My Long Journey from Player to Preacher
Strawberry, Darryl
Hardcover
Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games
Lomong, Lopez
Paperback
October Men: Reggie Jackson, George Steinbrenner, Billy Martin, and the Yankees' Miraculous Finish in 1978
Kahn, Roger
Paperback
Moses and the Doctor: Two Men, One Championship, and the Birth of Modern Basketball
Epplin, Luke
Hardcover
Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players
Smith, Sam
Jackson, Phil
Hardcover
How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Formula 1 Designer
Newey, Adrian
Hardcover
Bam!: John Madden, the NFL Explosion, and the Video Game That Changed Sports
Howard-Cooper, Scott
Hardcover
The Long Run: A New York City Firefighter's Triumphant Comeback from Crash Victim to Elite Athlete
Long, Matt
Butler, Charles
Paperback
The Longview Longshot: How Michael McDonald Survived the Streets and Forged an Improbable Path to the NBA
Perley, Sam
Paperback
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
Miller, John W.
Hardcover
Napoleon Lajoie's Socks: And Other Almost Forgotten Stories from Cleveland Sports History
Bona, Marc
Paperback
The Spurrier Effect: How One Coach Transformed Gamecock Football
Silvia, Brent
Miller, Kevin
Hardcover
Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board
Bundschuh, Rick
Hamilton, Bethany
Paperback
Royal Treatment: Jackie Robinson, Montreal, and the Breaking of Baseball's Color Barrier
McLaughlin, Sean J.
Hardcover
Bart's Heart: A Journey of Family, Friendship, Football and Faith
Lee, David T.
Burrell, Bart
Paperback
Just Give Me a Chance to Fail: The Life of NFL Hall of Fame Linebacker Sam Mills
Domowitch, Paul
Hardcover
Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess (Large Print Edition)
Mezrich, Ben
Paperback
In the Name of Freedom: A Political Dissident's Fight for Human Rights in the NBA and Around the World
Freedom, Enes Kanter
Hardcover
Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History
Schaap, Jeremy
Paperback
The Bookie: How I Bet It All on Sports Gambling and Watched an Industry Explode
Manteris, Art
Birkbeck, Matt
Hardcover
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Ryan, Tom
Paperback
A Life's Calling: The Voice Behind the World's Greatest Horse Races
Volponi, Paul
Shulman, Lenny
Durkin, Tom
Hardcover
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
O'Brien, Keith
Paperback
The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
Coffey, Wayne
Paperback
Fight Through It: The Battles, Breakthroughs, and Beauty of Becoming Resilient Enough to Never Give Up
Hall, Roy, Jr.
Hardcover
Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son
Cook, Kevin
Paperback
The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban, Updated and Expanded: How Alabama's Coach Became the Greatest Ever
Talty, John
Paperback
Ashes to Endzone: The Fight for Identity, Faith, and a Future Bigger Than the Game
Jones, Perris
Hardcover
12 as One: Mike Macdonald, the Seattle Seahawks and the Making of a Super Bowl Champion
Dugar, Michael-Shawn
Hardcover
Dixieland Delight: A Football Season on the Road in the Southeastern Conference
Travis, Clay
Paperback
Running the Table: The Legend of Kid Delicious, the Last Great American Pool Hustler
Wertheim, L. Jon
Paperback
The Making of a Miracle: The Untold Story of the Captain of the 1980 Gold Medal-Winning U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
Eruzione, Mike
Boudette, Neal
Paperback