Full Description
'This fascinating history of how, where and why humans swim...is perfect reading for those missing a splash-about during the lockdown.' Guardian
From the first recorded dip into what's now the driest spot on earth to the recreational swimmers in your local pool, humans have been getting wet for 10,000 years. And for most of modern history, swimming has caused a ripple that touches us all.
Splash! dives into Egypt, winds through ancient Greece and Rome, flows mostly underground through the Dark and Middle Ages (at least in Europe), and then re-emerges in the wake of the Renaissance before taking its final lap at the modern Olympic Games. Along the way, it kicks away the idea that swimming is just about speed or great feats of aquatic endurance, revealing how its history spans religion, fashion, architecture, public health, colonialism, segregation, sexism, sexiness, guts, glory and much, much more.
As refreshing as jumping into a pool on a hot summer's day, Splash! sweeps across the whole of humankind's swimming history with an irrepressible enthusiasm that will make you crave your next dip.
Contents
1: Gods, Humans, and the Aquatic Ape 2: Swimming's Golden Age 3: First There Was Swimming; Then There Was None 4: Rediscovering a Lost Art 5: Swimming 2.0 6: A Frog in Every Tub 7: Diving in for Dollars and Pounds 8: Climb Every Mountain, Swim Every Sea 9: The Great Swimming Cover-Up 10: An Aussie Wrecking Ball Goes Rogue 11: Nylon, WWII, James Bond, and the G-String 12: Swimming Together, Swimming Alone 13: The Last Taboo 14: Growing Pains 15: The Fastest Swimmer Ever 16: Is Enough Ever Enough?
