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Fox Tossing, Firework Boxing, and Other Curious Pastimes from the Far Corners of History

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Have you ever wondered what people did for fun throughout history? Edward Brooke-Hitching began to wonder the same thing while flipping through an eighteenth-century German book on hunting, and found a bygone sport in which German nobles launched foxes into the air. This random discovery of a game that slipped through the mainstream historical cracks led him to wonder: how many other sports have been left out of modern history accounts? Now, Brooke-Hitching shares his hilarious journey to discover the curious recreations contrived by mankind that have long since gone extinct (for good reason).

Compiling more than 100 of the most puzzling, cruel, and ludicrous games that have ever been played, including Aerial Golf, Hidden Hunting, Ski Ballet, Eel Pulling, and many more, Brooke-Hitching chronicles an entertaining romp through forgotten leisurely pastimes that history wanted you to forget—and that you definitely shouldn't try at home.

An illuminating gift book filled with acerbic humor and charming illustrations, Fox Tossing is sure to be enjoyed by many—and will let you take solace in knowing that at least your grandfather wasn't the genius who invented "Tortoise Racing," or any of the other games too stupid, or too harmful to withstand the test of time.
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    • Library Journal

      October 15, 2015

      If there are any hidden takeaways in this droll romp through the history of bizarre games and other pastimes, they are that humankind has, from the dawn of time to now, had a low tolerance for boredom, and that this has been more than offset by our ability to compensate with creative diversions that lay bare what might be called the inanity of humanity. Readers will already know of some of the approximately 100 re-creations that Brooke-Hitching, a British documentary director, presents: flagpole-sitting, phone booth-stuffing, goldfish-swallowing, and bull-running. Many others, definitely not so much: ice tennis (tennis played on ice); auto polo (polo using cars, not ponies); boxing on horseback (imagine Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali pounding each other while mounted on stallions); and flyting (matches in which contestants tried to best the insults and profanity they hurled at one another, a pastime that could have been the medieval precursor to The Jerry Springer Show). VERDICT Readers interested in popular looks at history, sports, and cultural anthropology will be amused by this title, though animal lovers might be appalled by sections on sports such as monkey-fighting, cat burning, Italian cat head butting, pig running, and lion baiting.--Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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