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Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing
 
 
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Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing [Illustrated] (Hardcover)

by Roland Huntford (Author)
2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
RRP: £25.00
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 436 pages
  • Publisher: Hambledon Continuum; illustrated edition edition (29 Sep 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1847252362
  • ISBN-13: 978-1847252364
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.8 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 84,562 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #2 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Winter Sports > Skiing > Cross Country Skiing
    #38 in  Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Reference > History of Sports

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  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Product Description

Product Description
Predating the wheel, the ski has played an important role in our history. This is brilliantly brought to life in this engaging book. Roland Huntford's brilliant history begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth. Man is a traveling animal, and on these icy slopes skiing began as a means of survival.That it has developed into the leisure and sporting pursuit of choice by so much of the globe bears testament to its elemental appeal. In polar exploration, it has changed the course of history. Elsewhere, in war and peace, it has done so too. The origins of skiing are bound up with the emergence of modern man and the world we live in today.

About the Author
Roland Huntford is the world's foremost authority on the polar expeditions and their protagonists. The biographer of Shackleton and Nansen, his other books include Scott and Amudsen: The Last Place on Earth and The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Journey.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Social History, War, Sport, and Drama , 15 Jan 2009
This work is more than impressive in its scope. It deals with the history of skiing from a social, military, political as well as pure sporting perspective. Its thoroughly researched facts naming people and places with authority give it great texture. The drama that unfolds in the (failed) Russian invasion of Finland in 1939 is worth the price of admission alone.
The early influence of the British in Alpine competition skiing will surprise some.
Great Read
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Two Planks and 'Even more Bias', 25 Jan 2009
By Jon Shipton "Jon" (United kingdom) - See all my reviews
'The Dramatic History of Skiing' Eh?

This is a veiled attempt at a continued 'Scott' bashing, and hailing 'Ammundsen' again!!!

The history bits about the actuall skiing are excellent, but this man hates 'Captain Scott' so much, and the attitude being himself as 'Norwegian' as the Norwegians themselves, is repeatative & tiresome.

The (ahem) hidden agenda is so obvious as be totally transparent to anyone who knows this hateful man's work. Tedious and romantic to anyone who doesn't!

One star, only because zero stars is not an option.
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3 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Oh dear.., 30 Dec 2008
By Dr. M. Law (Portsmouth, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Perhaps a better subtitle would have been "The Boring History Of Nordic Skiing". Dull and biased towards the author's love of the Nordic disciplines, the exponential rise of Alpine skiing in the twentieth century, i.e. that which will interest 99% of the potential readership, gets a single sniffy chapter at the end of the book. Avoid.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars History of Nordic skiing is history of ALL skiing
In response to Dr M. Law's review, can I just say that the history of skiing IS by default the history of nordic skiing. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Martina Watson

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