The Crossing
The Extraordinary Story of the First Man to Swim the English Channel
Kathy Watson(Author)
Headline Book Publishing
Published on 4. January 2001
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-0-7472-6213-8 (ISBN)
Unfortunately, price unknown
Article not available
Description
On the night of 24 August 1875 Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old British Navy captain, launched himself into the English Channel at Dover. Twenty-one hours and 45 minutes later he became the first man to swim the English Channel. In this acclaimed biography, Kathy Watson shows how Captain Webb was instrumental in bringing the sport of swimming into the modern era. It is also a study of the Victorian drive to push back the boundaries of endurance. In THE CROSSING, Watson uses this great British eccentric's extraordinary life as a springboard to explore themes of obsession and failure and the emerging force of the media, and swimming's place in our psyche.
Reviews / Votes
'... deftly tells the story of the burly seadog... with a light touch that belies the depth of her research' Sunday TimesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Headline Publishing Group
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Illustrations
18 integrated b/w photos
Dimensions
Height: 15 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 195 mm
Weight
191 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7472-6213-8 (9780747262138)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Since graduating from Oxford with a degree in English, Kathy Watson has worked as a journalist and became editor of Women's Realm. She swims three to four times a week and still daydreams about swimming the Channel.