This beautifully designed book published by Fernhurst charts the history of the world’s oldest sporting contest in two volumes, from 1851 in Cowes to 2003 in Auckland. It is illustrated with photographs, cartoons, paintings and figures and can rightly claim to be the definitive history.
History, traditionally, is written by the victors and produces a one-sided view. The America’s Cup had, for 132 years, only one victor and every major work on the subject was pointed towards success, but that success was achieved, at times, in heavily biased circumstances. Since 1983, however, the Cup’s progress has been of a more international nature and this has only been recorded by the winning teams for their own glorification.
This work seeks to retrace the history of the longest continuously competed international sporting event from all aspects and correct those glaring errors that have arisen previously. It is carefully researched, using contemporary sources beyond those of the yacht clubs who have challenged for and defended the Cup in the 152 years since the schooner America won the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Challenge Cup, valued at £100, and took it to the New York Yacht Club, where it became an icon of yachting.
The beautiful illustrations for this book will be drawn from a wide variety of sources. There will be charts of the courses for the early races, re-drawn from a variety of sources, line drawings, cartoons and caricatures, etchings, lithographs, paintings and a considerable number of photographs, both monochrome and coloured; all chosen to complement the text.
 |
 |
| View sample from Chapter 2: The First Challenge |
View sample from Chapter 29: Science prevails over art |
An Absorbing Interest is available for individual purchase on a strictly limited basis. To ensure availability we recommend customers place their orders as soon as possible.
