Sport, Almost Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

"Sport: The Strange and Unexpected Story of the Games We Take for Granted"does exactly what it says on the tin: telling the strange and surprising history of the world's sports from ancient times to the 21st century. In eight themed parts, Tim Harris describes the triumphs and breakthroughs - as well as the cheating and skulduggery - that have shaped modern sport. Each part is divided into 800-3,000 word subsections, to be dipped into or read cover to cover. Part one covers sporting'architecture'from race tracks to ice rinks, explaining why golf courses have 18 holes, why boxing'rings'are square and why Woolwich Arsenal moved to Highbury. The second section, showing how sporting rules have developed, reveals why wickets have three stumps, tennis has'services'and soccer has'touchlines', while the next, on sporting equipment, explains why golf balls have dimples, cue balls have black dots and rowers row in eights. Why do footballers score more goals at home than away? Why have women got worse at shot putting? A history of sporting drugs reveals all.'Speed sports'- from chariot racing through to Formula One - have their own section, explaining why racehorses aren't getting any faster, plus the origins of'pits'in motor sport and British racing green. The following section on money, tells why we compete for'stakes', hold'whip-rounds'and why the NFL plays on Sundays. Whyten-pin bowl with ninepins? Why aren't greyhounds grey? Why is rowing so posh? A section on sporting politics explains all, while the final part on media and sport, tells of racehorses appearing on the stage, boxers fighting inside cameras and just why the FA Cup draw uses wooden balls. With equally large measures of'Wow'and'Oh - now I get it',"Sport"is unique, funny, amazingly comprehen