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Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports
£7.10£8.50 (-16%)
For those who enjoyed the quirkiness of Schott’s Miscellany, the erudition of The Etymologicon or the extremes of The Dangerous Book for Boys, this is the perfect read.
From Flagpole Sitting to Mumble a Sparrow, Edward Brooke-Hitching has researched through piles of dusty tomes to bring vividly back to life some of the most curious, dangerous and downright bizarre sports and pastimes that mankind has ever devised, before thinking better of it and erasing it from the memory.
After all, who would ever want to bring back Fox Tossing, a popular sport for men and women in 18th-century Germany? As the name suggests, it would involve dozens of couples pairing up and standing 20-25 feet apart in an enclosed field, each holding one end of a net, and then they would pull hard at both ends as the fox ran past, sending it flying high into the air.
There are many other sports revealed within these pages that are unlikely ever to make an appearance on Sky Sports, such as Firework Boxing, which is just as dangerous as it sounds. Meanwhile, Ski Ballet may not have been so risky, but Suzy ‘Chapstick’ Chaffee’s signature move – the Suzy Split (a complete forward split while balanced on the tips of her skis) – was probably not one to try at home. An intriguing, entertaining and occasionally shocking insight into the vivid imaginations of mankind across the years, Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports is an unforgettable read.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster UK (2 Jun. 2016) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 288 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1471148998 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1471148996 |
| Dimensions | 13.2 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm |
by Jaxpaint
Despite the frivolous sounding title the book made me really question the nature of how humans entertain themselves through the ages. What was a normal past time in one era is horrific to our modern sensibilities. A fascinating read.
by Stylus
bought as a gift.
by P. B-J
Bought as an amusing gift for a sports fan – selected more for the book title than the content. Well received gift.
by abeille
What an original and entertaining read – full of whacky and bizarre long forgotten sports, from Roman times to those from not that long ago, written with a wonderful sense of humour, combined with lots of fascinating references. Well researched with excellent illustrations. Dip into it a chapter at a time, or read it straight through – I did the latter because I found it unputdownable! As a beautifully produced and decent sized hardback with dustwrapper, it has the has the added bonus of making a great present, and neatly solves what to give someone when you haven’t a clue, without breaking the bank (so remember this book for Christmas). Thoroughly recommended – and since buying mine I’ve seen it well reviewed in the Daily Mail, The Times and The Spectator, so I’m not the only one who loves this book.
by Lesley
I got this as a gift for my husband so haven’t read it myself. He enjoyed it though and has reread particular bits he finds especially amusing.
by Victoria Jones
I bought this as a humorous gift from my brother and he thought it was good. He didn’t bother reading the whole book and in his words “it got boring” however still started a few conversations and was a fun gift.
by Olive
Hilarious
by Emily J
Bought this as a gift for my husband and he loved reading it.
My only reason for not giving it 5 stars was because the quality of the cover image was pixelated (imagine a stretched image of an image). This is just a small nit pick as a graphic designer though – the quality of the book itself (and the content) were great!