The crossing : the glorious tragedy of the first man to swim the English channel / Kathy Watson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watson, Kathy, 1963-

Contributor:

Gotham Book Mart Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Webb, Matthew, 1848-1883.

Webb, Matthew.

Swimmers--Great Britain--Biography.

Swimmers.

Long distance swimming--English Channel.

Long distance swimming.

Atlantic Ocean--English Channel.

Great Britain.

Genre:

Biographies.

Penn Provenance:

Gotham Book Mart (former owner) (Gotham Book Mart Collection copy)

Physical Description:

242 pages : illustrations, map ; 19 cm

Edition:

First Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2001.

Summary:

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 -- 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 "half man, half fish," 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, gaslit underworld of 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.

Contents:

Introduction: Half Man Half Fish 1

1. A Shropshire Lad 11

2. Hard Biscuits and Hammocks 36

3. The Man Is an Obvious Fraud 63

4. A Mere Ditch That Shall Be Leaped 87

5. Too Much Sea 114

6. I'll Stick It As Long As I Can Wag a Toe 128

7. See the Conquering Hero Comes 134

8. What Next? 164

9. Whatever Next! 194

10. A Rum Bit of Water 210

11. Oh, That Is Not My Mat 229

Epilogue: A Box of Webb, Please 238.

Notes:

Originally published: London : Headline, 2000.

Local Notes:

Gotham Book Mart Collection copy has dustjacket retained.

ISBN:

158542109X

9781585421091

OCLC:

45661658