What do you think?
Rate this book
Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports
For those who enjoyed the quirkiness of Schott's Miscellany, the erudition of The Etymologicon or the extremes of The Dangerous Book for Boys, this is the perfect read.
From Spile Troshing to Mumble a Sparrow, Edward Brooke-Hitching has researched through piles of dusty tomes to bring vividly back to life some of the most curious, dangerous and downright bizarre sports and pastimes that mankind has ever devised, before thinking better of it and erasing it from the memory.
After all, who would ever think to bring back Fox Tossing, a popular sport for men and women in 18th century Germany? As the name suggests, it would involve dozens of couples pairing up and standing 20-25 feet apart in an enclosed field, each holding one end of a net, and then they would pull hard at both ends as the fox ran past, sending it flying high into the air.
There are many other sports revealed within these pages that are unlikely ever to make an appearance on Sky Sports, such as Firework Boxing, which is just as dangerous as it sounds. Meanwhile, Ski Ballet may not have been so risky, but Suzy 'Chapstick' Chaffee's signature move - the Suzy Split (a complete forward split while balanced on the tips of her skis) - was probably not one to try at home. An intriguing, entertaining and occasionally shocking insight into the vivid imaginations of mankind across the years, Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports is an unforgettable read.
From Spile Troshing to Mumble a Sparrow, Edward Brooke-Hitching has researched through piles of dusty tomes to bring vividly back to life some of the most curious, dangerous and downright bizarre sports and pastimes that mankind has ever devised, before thinking better of it and erasing it from the memory.
After all, who would ever think to bring back Fox Tossing, a popular sport for men and women in 18th century Germany? As the name suggests, it would involve dozens of couples pairing up and standing 20-25 feet apart in an enclosed field, each holding one end of a net, and then they would pull hard at both ends as the fox ran past, sending it flying high into the air.
There are many other sports revealed within these pages that are unlikely ever to make an appearance on Sky Sports, such as Firework Boxing, which is just as dangerous as it sounds. Meanwhile, Ski Ballet may not have been so risky, but Suzy 'Chapstick' Chaffee's signature move - the Suzy Split (a complete forward split while balanced on the tips of her skis) - was probably not one to try at home. An intriguing, entertaining and occasionally shocking insight into the vivid imaginations of mankind across the years, Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports is an unforgettable read.
288 pages, Unknown Binding
First published June 4, 2015
37 people are currently reading
942 people want to read
About the author
Edward Brooke-Hitching
14 books246 followersEdward Brooke-Hitching is a writer and award-winning documentary filmmaker. The son of an antiquarian book dealer, he read English and Film at the University of Exeter before entering independent film production. ‘Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports’ is his first book. He lives in London.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
April 29, 2017
The moral of today's story is that people used to do terrible things to animals in the name of "sport." Interspersed with fascinating tidbits about dueling with rubber bullets and auto polo, Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports documents the nauseating practices of bear, dog and monkey baiting and more- so much more.
It describes mass hunts conducted in arenas by royalty and nobles were hundreds, if not thousands, of animals were slaughtered as entertainment. From shooting arrows at roosters to breaking apart a barrel with a cat inside, I could not believe the brutality.
If you can make it through the animal abuse sports, and I confess that I skimmed most of those, what's left is amazing. "... from learning about how our ancestors entertained themselves we gain a unique insight into broader contemporary attitudes towards morality, humor, and the trials of daily existence." pg 3. "The reasons why these forgotten sports fell out of favor are, of course, many and varied, but broadly speaking can be divided into three categories: cruelty, danger, and ridiculousness." pg 5.
Ah, balloon jumping. This is a sport where a dude would attach a huge balloon to himself and leap across the landscape like a superhero. Why did we quit balloon jumping? "He did nearly clear the electrified cables, but unfortunately his feet became entangled, and when he tried to extract himself by grabbing one of the wires he was blown to the ground in a hail of sparks, dying instantly. Alas, balloon jumpers never quite managed to refine the sport to a level of safety below "frequently lethal"..." pg 24.
Then there was dwile flonking: "In mid-1960's Norfolk, it became a favorite activity of locals to gather in a large group, dance to an accordion, and hit each other in the face with beer-soaked rags." pg 87. What fun.
I would say that the practice of "flyting" is alive and well in some online forums: "Flytings were extemporary swearing matches that placed a value on the imagination and verbal dexterity of the participants, who would exchange insults with impressive wordplay in a sense similar to modern rap battles, but with an intensity of vitriol and florid vocabulary that is hard to fully comprehend by modern standards." pg 101. But not on Goodreads, where civil discourse rules the day. :)
Recommended for trivia hounds and those interested in obscure history, Fox Tossing is full of hilarious and heart-breaking facts about some of mankind's forgotten pastimes. Those who are triggered by animal cruelty would be best served by picking a different book.
It describes mass hunts conducted in arenas by royalty and nobles were hundreds, if not thousands, of animals were slaughtered as entertainment. From shooting arrows at roosters to breaking apart a barrel with a cat inside, I could not believe the brutality.
If you can make it through the animal abuse sports, and I confess that I skimmed most of those, what's left is amazing. "... from learning about how our ancestors entertained themselves we gain a unique insight into broader contemporary attitudes towards morality, humor, and the trials of daily existence." pg 3. "The reasons why these forgotten sports fell out of favor are, of course, many and varied, but broadly speaking can be divided into three categories: cruelty, danger, and ridiculousness." pg 5.
Ah, balloon jumping. This is a sport where a dude would attach a huge balloon to himself and leap across the landscape like a superhero. Why did we quit balloon jumping? "He did nearly clear the electrified cables, but unfortunately his feet became entangled, and when he tried to extract himself by grabbing one of the wires he was blown to the ground in a hail of sparks, dying instantly. Alas, balloon jumpers never quite managed to refine the sport to a level of safety below "frequently lethal"..." pg 24.
Then there was dwile flonking: "In mid-1960's Norfolk, it became a favorite activity of locals to gather in a large group, dance to an accordion, and hit each other in the face with beer-soaked rags." pg 87. What fun.
I would say that the practice of "flyting" is alive and well in some online forums: "Flytings were extemporary swearing matches that placed a value on the imagination and verbal dexterity of the participants, who would exchange insults with impressive wordplay in a sense similar to modern rap battles, but with an intensity of vitriol and florid vocabulary that is hard to fully comprehend by modern standards." pg 101. But not on Goodreads, where civil discourse rules the day. :)
Recommended for trivia hounds and those interested in obscure history, Fox Tossing is full of hilarious and heart-breaking facts about some of mankind's forgotten pastimes. Those who are triggered by animal cruelty would be best served by picking a different book.
February 12, 2016
A charming, dippable trawl through some of the sports and games that time forgot - the author writes well and has uncovered some wonderfully weird trivia that delights as much as it surprises. It's an alphabetical list, so the book does gradually become a tad formulaic, but I found myself googling stuff in disbelief, and was pleased to discover the research is well-grounded.
February 9, 2020
So many weird sports!
January 18, 2021
History buffs and sports enthusiasts will enjoy this little book full of information about those games that are no longer played and/or lost to obscurity (usually for a very good reason). The vast majority feature cruelty to animals which I suppose one could expect from a book titled Fox Tossing and Other Forgotten and Dangerous Sports, Pastimes, and Games but boy was it brutal. Bears, rats, dogs, cats, and even tortoises weren't exempt from the savagery of man. Besides the sports that featured the capture, suffering, and eventual death of animals there were those that were just plain idiotically dangerous. For example, would you like to participate in a rousing game of Human Fishing whereby you are the fish attached to a fishing line with another person trying to reel you in? What about Waterfall-Riding over Niagara in a barrel? Of course, you could always play it safe and indulge in everyone's favorite past-time of Dwile Flonking where a person who is blindfolded tries to hit his friends with a mop soaked in beer. Yes, this was a real thing.
While I enjoyed learning about the different past-times enjoyed by people all over the world through the ages the sheer amount that relied on the maltreatment of animals made this not exactly a fun read. Information = 10/10 Fun reading experience = 5/10
While I enjoyed learning about the different past-times enjoyed by people all over the world through the ages the sheer amount that relied on the maltreatment of animals made this not exactly a fun read. Information = 10/10 Fun reading experience = 5/10
November 16, 2019
A fascinating collection about sports that have been practiced by humans across the ages. Some of it is funny, some of it is gruesome, and others yet just leave you scratching your head. This is definitely not for those who are faint at heart or do not want to read about animal cruelty, as unfortunately many sports used to involve the maltreatment of animals. It is interesting to read about all these sporting activities, and see how they emerged from training for combat, the channelling of human’s innate aggression or the search for entertainment and dare-devilry. But the book could have benefitted from the author drawing out some general observations and connections about all the sports mentioned, or at the least it could have been thematically organised.
November 16, 2020
Most of this book is about blood sports which are incredibly distasteful to modern sensibilities. The chapter about the Victorian obsession with the velocipede is the highlight.
The author draws on a 1869 book called The Velocipede, Its Past, Its Present, & Its Future: How to Ride a Velocipede – ‘Straddle a Saddle, then Paddle and Skedaddle’ and shared two words that were new to me:
Firstly, Velocipedestrianisticalistinarianologist
And secondly gerbiling - when the giant wheel of the velocopede came to a sudden stop and flung the rider in circles inside.
The author draws on a 1869 book called The Velocipede, Its Past, Its Present, & Its Future: How to Ride a Velocipede – ‘Straddle a Saddle, then Paddle and Skedaddle’ and shared two words that were new to me:
Firstly, Velocipedestrianisticalistinarianologist
And secondly gerbiling - when the giant wheel of the velocopede came to a sudden stop and flung the rider in circles inside.
January 14, 2019
I expected there to be 8-12 sports, each given a chapter, but instead the book covers ninety. This leads to some interesting diversity, but unfortunately all the treatments are fairly superficial.
I was concerned that the book's low rating might reflect an issue of scholarship, but it seems most object to the treatment of animals described within. This was actually my main reason for reading the book, and I found the difference in values fascinating, particularly when there were primary sources quoted.
I was concerned that the book's low rating might reflect an issue of scholarship, but it seems most object to the treatment of animals described within. This was actually my main reason for reading the book, and I found the difference in values fascinating, particularly when there were primary sources quoted.
March 16, 2017
Alot of weird and seldom heard of sports, some very strange. However, it was well researched.
October 5, 2024
3.5*. Informative and an interesting look into what our ancestors considered fun. Major TW for animal abuse though. I had to skim through some chapters; they were pretty graphic.
September 7, 2015
Edward Brooke-Hitching's trawl through the archives of forgotten and abandoned sports, entertainments and pastimes is (mostly) great fun. One of those list-based micro-histories that are so rewarding to dip in and out of, it's crammed with stories, facts and insights that make it addictive enough to read chapter after chapter of.
From the sheer, wilfully aggressive brutality of Viking sports like throwing bones at each other's heads and trying to drown each other, to the bizarrely artful late twentieth century craze of Ski ballet via mob football and the genuinely idiotic auto(mobile) polo of the early 1900s, Brooke-Hitching's survey is humorous and informative. It's a great read and something I'll continually refer back to.
But it's not without its problems. Some chapters feel cut frustratingly short. Whether this is due to stringent editing or a paucity of sources, I'd have happily added another hundred pages or so to explore some of these ridiculous things in greater detail.
The other major issue (from the viewpoint of a big, soft, animal-lover like me) is that the book at times falls into a depressing chronicle of the sheer savagery human beings have shown (and still do) in using animals for entertainment. Bear-baiting, cat-burning, and head-butting and duck-baiting, along with the wildlife massacres of the Romans and poking finches eyes out with red hot needles to make them sing more sweetly are just a few of the animal horrors related along the way.
Highly recommended overall, though.
From the sheer, wilfully aggressive brutality of Viking sports like throwing bones at each other's heads and trying to drown each other, to the bizarrely artful late twentieth century craze of Ski ballet via mob football and the genuinely idiotic auto(mobile) polo of the early 1900s, Brooke-Hitching's survey is humorous and informative. It's a great read and something I'll continually refer back to.
But it's not without its problems. Some chapters feel cut frustratingly short. Whether this is due to stringent editing or a paucity of sources, I'd have happily added another hundred pages or so to explore some of these ridiculous things in greater detail.
The other major issue (from the viewpoint of a big, soft, animal-lover like me) is that the book at times falls into a depressing chronicle of the sheer savagery human beings have shown (and still do) in using animals for entertainment. Bear-baiting, cat-burning, and head-butting and duck-baiting, along with the wildlife massacres of the Romans and poking finches eyes out with red hot needles to make them sing more sweetly are just a few of the animal horrors related along the way.
Highly recommended overall, though.
July 2, 2016
I just adored this journey through the out-and-out bonkers past-times that used to keep our ancestors from getting bored. At times I had tears of laughter from even just phrases like "Dwile Flonking" - and admittedly, I did keep turning to the author's picture (because for a funny guy with an interest in eccentric history, he's also quite easy on the eye.)
I will say the one thing I felt this book needed was a slightly different outline - it is arranged alphabetically like a dictionary, whereas I feel like this might have been good in topics (such as entries to do with ball games, combining two sports, etc) This was brought to mind because I wanted to recommend this book to a friend of mine who is quite passionate about animal rights and would find the entries on animal cruelty very difficult to read. Unfortunately, these entries are scattered throughout the whole book, rather than just being in a single chapter that could be avoided. This format also meant the book ended quite abruptly, where it could have used a concluding section.
Now, let me just look at that author blub again. Sigh.
I will say the one thing I felt this book needed was a slightly different outline - it is arranged alphabetically like a dictionary, whereas I feel like this might have been good in topics (such as entries to do with ball games, combining two sports, etc) This was brought to mind because I wanted to recommend this book to a friend of mine who is quite passionate about animal rights and would find the entries on animal cruelty very difficult to read. Unfortunately, these entries are scattered throughout the whole book, rather than just being in a single chapter that could be avoided. This format also meant the book ended quite abruptly, where it could have used a concluding section.
Now, let me just look at that author blub again. Sigh.
January 27, 2019
Subtitled "The most dangerous and bizarre sports in history" - true enough, but one crucial adjective omitted from that description is "cruel", because for every entry on Mob Football or Dwile Flonking, it feels like there's about six on the various ways men have killed animals for pleasure.
I probably didn't help matters by reading it straight through, when clearly it's a book to be dipped into, but after a while the animal cruelty mounts up, and detracts from the semi-jocular, "weren't folk mad in the old days" tone that was intended. And, from an objective view point this makes the book repetitive as well as depressing. There's little, other than specific accounts, that seperates bear-baiting from bull-baiting or lion-baiting. Setting dogs on animals could probably have been one section, not one for every type of animal used in that way.
That said, there is other material here, the cruelty isn't presented for amusement, and it's well written. In many ways interesting, just makes you feel a bit grubby. Especially when you turn a page and a heading has you shuddering before you even read the passage...
I probably didn't help matters by reading it straight through, when clearly it's a book to be dipped into, but after a while the animal cruelty mounts up, and detracts from the semi-jocular, "weren't folk mad in the old days" tone that was intended. And, from an objective view point this makes the book repetitive as well as depressing. There's little, other than specific accounts, that seperates bear-baiting from bull-baiting or lion-baiting. Setting dogs on animals could probably have been one section, not one for every type of animal used in that way.
That said, there is other material here, the cruelty isn't presented for amusement, and it's well written. In many ways interesting, just makes you feel a bit grubby. Especially when you turn a page and a heading has you shuddering before you even read the passage...
December 29, 2019
Leave this one alone unless you hate reading and love animal torture. This book skimmed the surface on lots of interesting but often cruel games and stunts throughout history. The author seemed to do a small amount of research into each sport, documented an anecdote or two and moved on to the next. They were arranged alphabetically so there was no flow or logical grouping of the different sports. I would have liked the author to dive a little deeper into fewer sports rather than including every weird publicity stunt he happened across in his research. The overall result is a book that was very poorly researched, written and published (I found a few glaring printing/formatting errors I wouldn’t have noticed had I been engaged with the content).
April 10, 2020
Whilst the author does talk in the introduction about how the early idea of sport was quite linked to hunting, most of the sports in this book are some form of animal torture/murder. The sections are often quite brief as well, so I didn't always feel like I got the information I wanted.
I think my favourite sports, the ones I'd like to do, from those described were flyting and jingling.
I think my favourite sports, the ones I'd like to do, from those described were flyting and jingling.
October 14, 2016
muggles, man, idk.
December 8, 2022
People are weird and sometimes straight up awful, and this has been long reflected in our sports and pastimes. In this book, Edward Brooke-Hitching walks us through some of the strangest and worst of those pastimes. These activities include things like filling huge balloons up with helium, strapping them to your body, and using them not quite to fly, but to jump high and far as if you were on a low g planet (and sometimes frying yourself on electrical wires in the process). Brooke-Hitching discusses dangerous sports like polo with cars (and no seatbelts), and abandoned Olympic events such as firefighting and dropping missiles from hot air balloons at targets below.
Unfortunately, many, oh so many of our now abandoned pastimes involved animal cruelty. For example, in the old days people liked seeing how fast a dog could kill a bunch of rats. They would pit dogs against each other (terriers were the best) and whichever dog killed a certain number of rats the quickest won. On one memorable occasion a dog was pitted against a monkey, and the monkey killed the rats much faster than the dog, but those who had bet on the dog asked if it was really fair to let the monkey use a hammer.
The dogs vs rats events are one of the least objectionable of the exercises in animal cruelty detailed in this book. If you love cats, there are a number of chapters in this book that you will want to skip. The book's titular event, "Fox Tossing," was also appalling. In fox tossing a large number of couples (men and women usually, like mixed doubles in tennis) stood in an arena, each holding the end of a rope. Then animals would be released into the arena, foxes were popular, but cats and even badgers were sometimes used. The animals would run around and whenever one crossed a rope, the people holding the rope would pull it taut and send the animal flying. The objective was to launch the animal so high that it would be killed, or at least incapacitated when it landed. This was considered highly amusing.
Of course, people not only enjoy being cruel to animals, they also enjoy being cruel to each other, and a number of events described here were essentially just running battles. Soccer evolved out of a game where opposing teams (which could number in the hundreds, sometimes one town's population pitted against the population of another town) tried to kick an inflated pig's bladder into the other's goal, which could be miles away. Punching, kicking and all kinds of violence were allowed (and may have been the whole point).
And then, of course, there were events where violence against animals was mixed with violence with humans, like the game where a group of men were were blindfolded, armed with clubs, and then put into a pen with a pig. The object of the game was to kill the pig, but the crowds hooted with laughter at the sight of men accidentally wailing on each other with clubs (we can, with some reason, tut tut at this behavior, but I have seen enough internet videos of people getting struck with broom handles being swung by someone trying to kill a piñata to know that our taste for watching people get whacked by sticks hasn't yet been entirely sated).
This books alternates between amusing and appalling (with occasional bits of boring), but I thought it was good to see that our culture has grown out of a lot of the awful things we used to do for fun.
Unfortunately, many, oh so many of our now abandoned pastimes involved animal cruelty. For example, in the old days people liked seeing how fast a dog could kill a bunch of rats. They would pit dogs against each other (terriers were the best) and whichever dog killed a certain number of rats the quickest won. On one memorable occasion a dog was pitted against a monkey, and the monkey killed the rats much faster than the dog, but those who had bet on the dog asked if it was really fair to let the monkey use a hammer.
The dogs vs rats events are one of the least objectionable of the exercises in animal cruelty detailed in this book. If you love cats, there are a number of chapters in this book that you will want to skip. The book's titular event, "Fox Tossing," was also appalling. In fox tossing a large number of couples (men and women usually, like mixed doubles in tennis) stood in an arena, each holding the end of a rope. Then animals would be released into the arena, foxes were popular, but cats and even badgers were sometimes used. The animals would run around and whenever one crossed a rope, the people holding the rope would pull it taut and send the animal flying. The objective was to launch the animal so high that it would be killed, or at least incapacitated when it landed. This was considered highly amusing.
Of course, people not only enjoy being cruel to animals, they also enjoy being cruel to each other, and a number of events described here were essentially just running battles. Soccer evolved out of a game where opposing teams (which could number in the hundreds, sometimes one town's population pitted against the population of another town) tried to kick an inflated pig's bladder into the other's goal, which could be miles away. Punching, kicking and all kinds of violence were allowed (and may have been the whole point).
And then, of course, there were events where violence against animals was mixed with violence with humans, like the game where a group of men were were blindfolded, armed with clubs, and then put into a pen with a pig. The object of the game was to kill the pig, but the crowds hooted with laughter at the sight of men accidentally wailing on each other with clubs (we can, with some reason, tut tut at this behavior, but I have seen enough internet videos of people getting struck with broom handles being swung by someone trying to kill a piñata to know that our taste for watching people get whacked by sticks hasn't yet been entirely sated).
This books alternates between amusing and appalling (with occasional bits of boring), but I thought it was good to see that our culture has grown out of a lot of the awful things we used to do for fun.
January 9, 2021
Warning - a lot of graphic descriptions of animal abuse.
The book is arranged alphabetically, going from "aerial golf" to "wolfing". I would have preferred to see the book arranged chronologically, to see how attitudes towards what is "fun" changed over time, and to see what different time periods were concerned with and focused on, such as how we see the sports from the early 20th century, such as "auto pole" were focused on new technologies, while the later 20th century sports, such as "ski ballet" were fascinated to see just how far the human body could be pushed. Everything before the 20th century (and some in it) seems to involve animal cruelty one way or another, from "monkey fighting" to "tortoise racing".
Still, despite my preference for the chronological rather than the alphabetical, these bits of microhistory are all fascinating, however they are arranged. Brooke-Hitching rightly points out there hasn't been a lot of serious historical study of sports and entertainment, yet the subjects revel so much about a culture, such as the ancient Roman "naumachiae" showing how much the ancient Romans understood good PR was vital to keep the empire going.
Some of these sports lasted for centuries, such as "bear-baiting," while others, like "universal football" lasted only a day. All have been consigned to the dustbin of history. So much so, that when the author approached a book antiquarian for more information about the first reference he found on "fox tossing" the expert curtly responded with a note saying that if he wanted to try and hoax him, try something more plausible.
December 19, 2016
Reading like 1-5 pages short stories, Brooke-Hitching did his homework. He researched the crazy forgotten and dangerous sports, games, and pastimes that make present-day people look like angels. It is truly mind-boggling what went on in the name of witchcraft, religion, politics, and fun mainly because people were drunk, on drugs, wanted power over beasts, or simply because they could. And the way that Brooke-Hitching organizes the book puts the craziness front and center. There is a brief introduction and then each "chapter" the title of the sport, pastime, or game which sometimes includes pictures or illustrations (God save us all!)
I was thinking amusing and lighthearted, what I got was something a bit more puzzling and scary but altogether entertaining. I am also appreciative of the curiosity and interest that he had in the subject to do so much digging, with plenty of primary-source quotations and historical notations regarding them. Taken as a whole, it's awe-inspiring, but even in chunks and bits there is much to be said for the need for human entertainment.
Well done, Brooke-Hitching. Well-organized, deeply researched, easily narrated, and endlessly fascinating.
I was thinking amusing and lighthearted, what I got was something a bit more puzzling and scary but altogether entertaining. I am also appreciative of the curiosity and interest that he had in the subject to do so much digging, with plenty of primary-source quotations and historical notations regarding them. Taken as a whole, it's awe-inspiring, but even in chunks and bits there is much to be said for the need for human entertainment.
Well done, Brooke-Hitching. Well-organized, deeply researched, easily narrated, and endlessly fascinating.
December 20, 2020
As the author shares in the beginning, the activities listed catalog humanity's penchant for cruelty, and absurdity. The list of "sports" involving what would only be described as animal torture in our modern parlance is extensive enough that one wonders how any human learned to care for another creature. These "pastimes" were celebrated across centuries, and across classes from the lowest, to highest.
The absurd sports were there for much needed light-hearted relief after another example of humanity's inventiveness in hurting other creatures. Many seem to have sprung up from the early turn of the century, especially among the wealthy seeking a new thrill, or more often than not, a twist on an old one.
I did reach the point that I had to skip any mention of the animal events. I had to watch animal rescue videos for an emotional support.
The remainder of the book's subjects are amusing in their frivolity, and absolute silliness. I had to give it a three star for the sake that there are so many animal-involved entries, it became hard to read the book. One that seemed well-researched to discover so many.
The absurd sports were there for much needed light-hearted relief after another example of humanity's inventiveness in hurting other creatures. Many seem to have sprung up from the early turn of the century, especially among the wealthy seeking a new thrill, or more often than not, a twist on an old one.
I did reach the point that I had to skip any mention of the animal events. I had to watch animal rescue videos for an emotional support.
The remainder of the book's subjects are amusing in their frivolity, and absolute silliness. I had to give it a three star for the sake that there are so many animal-involved entries, it became hard to read the book. One that seemed well-researched to discover so many.
May 23, 2023
3.5/5 rounding down for goodreads. Decent quick read if you can find a cheap copy.
Covers a variety of old sports in an A-Z format, starting with air golf (where the golf balls were dropped from planes). The sports tend to be in three categories about why are no long played - cruelty to animals (theres a lot of it in this book, things like cat burning, cat headbutting, donkey boxing etc), danger to humans, or just the general stupidity of the sport. Since there is 100 different sports covered the book is focused on breadth instead of depth. Additionally I'd say that while the writing is entertaining towards the end it does start to get a bit repetitive, with a lot of sections being on the different kind of animal baiting (monkeys, lions, bears etc) or normal sports done in stupid ways (horseback boxing, auto/car polo etc). Maybe that's because I read quickly from beginning to end and the book would be more enjoyable just dipping in and out of it.
Covers a variety of old sports in an A-Z format, starting with air golf (where the golf balls were dropped from planes). The sports tend to be in three categories about why are no long played - cruelty to animals (theres a lot of it in this book, things like cat burning, cat headbutting, donkey boxing etc), danger to humans, or just the general stupidity of the sport. Since there is 100 different sports covered the book is focused on breadth instead of depth. Additionally I'd say that while the writing is entertaining towards the end it does start to get a bit repetitive, with a lot of sections being on the different kind of animal baiting (monkeys, lions, bears etc) or normal sports done in stupid ways (horseback boxing, auto/car polo etc). Maybe that's because I read quickly from beginning to end and the book would be more enjoyable just dipping in and out of it.
September 4, 2018
Well researched, written and humorous, but needs better curating. Alphabetical doesn’t do much - grouping by theme, geography or time would be more helpful. Also, the sports fall into a handful of categories: 1) cruelty to animals, 2) stunts, 3) good try but didn’t pan out and 4) actual sports. Too many of these I felt were included to get the book up to I think 100 sports, and not because they actually count as a sport. For instance, trying universal football once doesn’t count as a sport to me. That’s like saying me and some friends messing about with a ball in a park, making it up as we go along is a sport. It’s not.
May 25, 2019
I am always looking for new activities to try at the Senior Center where I work and I was really hoping this book would give me some ideas. Unfortunately, there were none, because human cruelty (baby boxing, auto polo, human firecrackers with asbestos suits as protection) and animal cruelty (pretty much all the rest of the games in the book) are not my thing. My initial reaction was to give the book a 1 star rating because of the horrors it contains, but then I remembered that the author did not create these games. It was a well put-together and terrifying read. Why do humans think that using animals in sport is acceptable? Truly disturbing stuff.
July 8, 2020
The content of the book is mostly about medieval sports which are banned today but the presentation is horrible(The author should have divided the book in three or four volumes in my opinion).There is no timeline but an alphabetical description of 'the now extinct sports'.
Most of the description about the sport is like this:
1.description of the medieval times in Europe
2.some random animal
3.baiting/wrestling
4.a commentary by an onlooker
5.description of cruelty
6.its ultimate ban
It was an horrible reading experience (so much so that I had to skim over 100 pages due to repetition).Only for the research work,I am rating this report(not a book),two stars.
Avoid it...
Most of the description about the sport is like this:
1.description of the medieval times in Europe
2.some random animal
3.baiting/wrestling
4.a commentary by an onlooker
5.description of cruelty
6.its ultimate ban
It was an horrible reading experience (so much so that I had to skim over 100 pages due to repetition).Only for the research work,I am rating this report(not a book),two stars.
Avoid it...
December 9, 2017
Two things about this book:
1) Dwile Thonking is the coolest thing to do while drunk.
2) So many sports involve animal death and torture. Humans are truly terrible creatures.
This book was fun, and I don’t even like sports. The history of unusual sports was something I knew nothing about and wanted to read this after it was cited on the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast. I’m glad I did—now Dwile thonking is something I know about and I can happily rejoice in that knowledge.
1) Dwile Thonking is the coolest thing to do while drunk.
2) So many sports involve animal death and torture. Humans are truly terrible creatures.
This book was fun, and I don’t even like sports. The history of unusual sports was something I knew nothing about and wanted to read this after it was cited on the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast. I’m glad I did—now Dwile thonking is something I know about and I can happily rejoice in that knowledge.
September 14, 2018
I skipped about half of this book ... any “sport” or “game” that appeared to be harmful to animals immediately got skipped - and it was a good size portion of the book unfortunately. I still gave the book a 3 Star due to the interesting tidbits provided about other games/sports. Some of my favorites were aerial golf, balloon jumping, dwile flonking, last couple in hell, forgotten Olympic events, pedestrianism, and phosphorescent golf.
March 5, 2019
While I enjoyed the content of this book, I found it very hard to pay attention to it. The book describes over 80 games that people used to play (LOTS of animal cruelty), and they each cover a page or two. This was difficult to focus because it didn't draw me in. If I was interested in one aspect, it would be over a few sentences later.
A good book, but one that can only be read over a long period because you can only focus on one or two games a night.
A good book, but one that can only be read over a long period because you can only focus on one or two games a night.
January 4, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very well-written and had a lot of useful and interesting information. That being said, human capacity for animal cruelty is astounding. One could say that I should have prepared myself based on the title of the book, but some of the "sports" that were practiced in old times were tantamount to animal torture. All in all this was definitely worth reading and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in sports history.
April 6, 2021
This was a very interesting book, though very hard to read at times. The amount of "sports" in here that included animal cruelty could be a bit much sometimes where I had to put the book down and read something else. I love animals and also believe in sportsmanship so I was definitely sickened and pissed off while reading about some of the past events, but such is the cruelty of man, I guess. Overall, still a good book and was fun to learn about the pastimes that didn't involve animal violence.
July 27, 2024
Overall a fun book, with plenty of weird and wonderful entries. My only gripe is the amount of space dedicated to medieval animal cruelty, which barely constitutes "sport". I understand that in centuries past, people considered the wholesale slaughter of (mostly defenceless) animals as a noble pastime, but the book's premise is the weird and bizarre sports that have fallen into obscurity. Animal slaughter does not fall into either of those categories.
February 24, 2018
A book about the most bizarre sports through history. The ones that didn't involve animals were quite amusing but it also contains so called "Sports" involving animals who had to endure the most horrific cruelty and pain imaginable for the sadistic blood lusting onlookers. I can assure you this book won't be going to live on my bookshelf.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews