Two Planks and a Passion - by Roland Huntford (Hardcover)

About the Book

Predating the wheel, the ski has played an important role in our history. This is brilliantly brought to life in this engaging book.

Book Synopsis

Roland Huntford's brilliant history begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth. Man is a travelling animal, and on these icy slopes skiing began as a means of survival.

That it has developed into the leisure and sporting pursuit of choice by so much of the globe bears testament to its elemental appeal. In polar exploration, it has changed the course of history. Elsewhere, in war and peace, it has done so too. The origins of skiing are bound up in with the emergence of modern man and the world we live in today.

Review Quotes

'Huntford has also undertaken the monumental task of tracing and explaining the development of the sport of skiing outside Scandinavia, particularly in Alpine Europe. As such, he has provided us with a much richer and more complex picture than was previously available from Arnold Lunn's highly partial "The Story of Skiing.'"--Sanford Lakoff

'This is a deeply scholarly work ... Fortunately scholarly in this instance is not synonymous with dull ... Huntford manages to to bind a wealth of material together with a strong narrative thread.' Simon Redfern, The Independent on Sunday

'[A] fine, erudite history of the sport', Hugh Thompson, The Independent

'Our choice - pick of the paperbacks ... Huntford tells the ski story straightforwardly and simply' - Sunday Times

'This will be skiing's definitive history for years to come...' Alex Wade, Times Literary Supplement

"An engaging and insightful work" Sport Magazine

"Could the outcome of the Second World War have been decided by the humble ski? That's the bold but surprisingly convincing claim made by Roland Huntford in Two Planks and a Passion." Roger Cox, The Scotsman

"Huntford's book will be a perfect stocking present for piste fantasists like me," Max Hastings, Sunday Times

"In his early books, Huntford chronicled the race to the South Pole ("The Last Place on Earth") and wrote biographies of Ernest Shackleton and Fridtjof Nansen. "Two Planks" seems a natural progression for him ... Huntford deserves praise for bringing together a lot of rich material." New York Times Book Review.

"Roland Huntford's book is an amazingly detailed history of skiing's Scandinavian origins." BBC History Magazine

"The breadth of his scholarship, which includes an easy familiarity with Scandinavian texts, is extraordinary." Literary Review

"The most in-depth study of skiing currently in the English language and it will no doubt remain the defining record for some time." The Guardian

"This is a compelling acount, and definitive history, of an activity that has evolved over time into one of our most thriving leisure industries." Sunday Telegraph

"What elevates Huntford is his comprehensive approach ... accessible and enjoyable, even to the most armchair bound of 'schussers'." Paul Watkins, The Times

Mention in The Daily Mail, 28 November 2008.

Mentioned in Skier and Snowboarder Magazine, 01 November 2008.

Review in The Daily Telegraph.

Title mention in Skier & Snowboarder Magazine.

Title mention in The Guardian.

About the Author

Roland Huntford is the world's foremost authority on the polar expeditions and their protagonists. He is the author of the award-winning Two Planks and a Passion: the Dramatic History of Skiing and Scott and Amundsen: Last Place on Earth and he is the biographer of Shackleton and Nansen. He was the Scandinavian correspondent on The Observer for many years.