A black polymath, historian and political philosopher at a time when black people were not expected to do any of those things, C.L.R. James's lifetime was shaped by a burning desire to move beyond the racial and social strictures that sought to limit him. Thirty years after his death, his ideas on the leading roles of people of colour, women and young people in political struggle have never been more relevant.

C.L.R. James: A Life Beyond the Boundaries traces the numerous contextual threads of a remarkable life - Trinidadian, cricketer, Marxist, American activist, Brixton elder statesman - and weaves a vivid tapestry of his complex political thinking. John L. Williams brings a unique understanding and forensic detail to the life of C.L.R. James, firmly contextualising his pioneering role in the twenty-first century.