The Crossing : The Curious Story of the First Man to Swim the English Channel
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Sports & Outdoors
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Sports & Outdoors
Book Type: Hardcover
The Glorious Tragedy of The First Man To Swim The English Channel
Who was this hero, this demigod? The object of Swinburne's homage was Captain Matthew Webb, a short, stocky sailor, who in August 1875, became the first man to swim the English Channel. Feted and adored, praised and imitated for a while he was one of the most famous men in the world.
Webb's gallant twenty-two-hour endeavor popularized the sport of swimming and was the highlight of his life, but it was also the beginning of his ruin. Wearing a ten-pound bathing suit and fueled by eggs and bacon washed down with beer, brandy, and claret, he accomplished the aquatic equivalent of summiting Mount Everest â" then succumbed to an addiction to applause that led to the final act in his tragedy: a crazed attempt to swim the Niagara River below the Falls.
This is the story of Webb, a man who achieved his dream but didn't know what to do with it. Lionized by the press as âhalf man, half fish,â he lived a life of adventure, offering himself to the crowd again and again, surrounded by a colorful array of sportsmen, stuntmen, and gamblers.
Through his story, we glimpse a slice of Victorian society, a lusty, flamboyant, gas lit underworld showmanship and shady deals, of eccentricity flying in the face of reason.
A fast-moving tale of triumph and folly, The Crossing is an exquisite portrait of a larger-than-life daredevil who fell victim to his own success.
Who was this hero, this demigod? The object of Swinburne's homage was Captain Matthew Webb, a short, stocky sailor, who in August 1875, became the first man to swim the English Channel. Feted and adored, praised and imitated for a while he was one of the most famous men in the world.
Webb's gallant twenty-two-hour endeavor popularized the sport of swimming and was the highlight of his life, but it was also the beginning of his ruin. Wearing a ten-pound bathing suit and fueled by eggs and bacon washed down with beer, brandy, and claret, he accomplished the aquatic equivalent of summiting Mount Everest â" then succumbed to an addiction to applause that led to the final act in his tragedy: a crazed attempt to swim the Niagara River below the Falls.
This is the story of Webb, a man who achieved his dream but didn't know what to do with it. Lionized by the press as âhalf man, half fish,â he lived a life of adventure, offering himself to the crowd again and again, surrounded by a colorful array of sportsmen, stuntmen, and gamblers.
Through his story, we glimpse a slice of Victorian society, a lusty, flamboyant, gas lit underworld showmanship and shady deals, of eccentricity flying in the face of reason.
A fast-moving tale of triumph and folly, The Crossing is an exquisite portrait of a larger-than-life daredevil who fell victim to his own success.
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