Surfing: An Illustrated History of the Coolest Sport of All Time

by Benjamin Marcus

Overview

Surfing enthusiast Ben Marcus takes you as close to the waves as you can get without hitting the beach. Surfing is more than just a sport; it is a cultural phenomenon. From its mystical beginnings in Polynesia, surfing has evolved into a worldwide passion, establishing its own roster of legends and seeping into our society—in movies, in fashion, in music, and in language. Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, the “father of surfing,” helped elevate the sport beyond its Pacific Islands origins more than a century ago, and his torch has been carried on by a long line of surf heroes: Woody Brown, Mickey Dora, Laird Hamilton, Kelly Slater, and many, many others. During the 1950s and 1960s, surf culture and fashion exploded into movies and music. “Gidget,” the Beach Boys, and even Elvis Presley exposed surfing to the masses, and decades later, the sport and its proponents remain fixtures in pop culture and the media. Yet, through the years, surfing has maintained its reputation as a refuge for non-conformists; its often below-the-radar individualistic lifestyle defies a dry chronicle neatly tied up with a bow. In this comprehensive history of surfing, author Ben Marcus captures the glamour and excitement of this extreme sport. If you are still in awe of that first surfboard, still stoked by hanging ten, or still dreaming of that elusive wave, then this book is for you. Surfing: An Illustrated History of the Coolest Sport of All Time brings you up close and personal to the exciting world of surfing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610587617
Publisher:	MVP Books
Publication date:	03/05/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	45 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ben Marcus (Malibu, CA) is a stoked surfer who grew up in the waves of Santa Cruz and Malibu. He served 10 years as associate editor at Surfer magazine and is a freelance writer for The Surfer’s Journal. Ben is the author of The Surfboard, Surfing and the Meaning of Life, The Surfing Handbook, and several other surf books.

www.benmarcusrules.com

Table of Contents

Foreword 19

Chapter 1 Catching the First Waves
From Polynesia with Love • The Dawn of Time to 1940

Chapter 2 From Here to Honolulu
Discovering the Secrets of the Sea • The World War II Years

Chapter 3 The Golden Years
From the Fall of Hitler to the Rise of Gidget • 1946 to 1959

Chapter 4 The Surfer Stomp
A Rock’n’Roll Soundtrack to the Waves • 1959 to 1967

Chapter 5 Blue Screen
Hollywood Exploits Surfing—and Vice Versa • The 1920s to Today

Chapter 6 Going Vertical
The Parallel Ascent of Kelly Slater and the Surf Industrial Complex • The 1980s and 1990s

Chapter 7 The Sport of Queens
Gidget Kicks Ass • From Ancient Hawai’i to Blue Crush and Beyond

Chapter 8 Monster
Surfing’s Twenty-First-Century Man • The 1990s to Today

Epilogue: Something Wild
The Wave of Surf Culture • Through the Centuries

Acknowledgments and Sources
Index 206
About the Author 208