The Encyclopedia of Surfing

Now in paperback and updated to include forty new entries, this "leviathan of surf literature" (Surfing magazine) is a remarkable collection of expert knowledge, spine-tingling stories, and little-known trivia. With 1,500 alphabetical entries and 300 illustrations, The Encyclopedia of Surfing is the most comprehensive review of the people, places, events, equipment, vernacular, and lively history of this fascinating sport by "one of surfing's most knowledgeable historians" (San Francisco Chronicle).

Each year, the surf industry brings in $4.5 billion, and more than two-and-a-half million Americans, from California to Delaware, have caught the wave. The Encyclopedia of Surfing is a book that no surfer-or armchair adventurer-will be able to resist.

If it's about surfing you're likely to find it in this book's 1,500 alphabetical entries on places, people, events, gear, history, culture, and terminology from the world of surfing. Warshaw offers a fittingly wide scope on the topic, considering that the human activity of riding on ocean swells may date back as far as 3,000 B.C. He details the ancient Polynesian roots of the modern sport, Greg Noll's first ride at Waimea, the creation of "Gidget," Kelly Slater's record-breaking title run, surfing cameos from movies, literature, and music, and the evolution of the surfboard itself. The brief listings range from several paragraphs to several pages and are written in an engaging and entertaining style. The book is illustrated with more than 300 black and white photographs. Warshaw is the former editor of Surfer magazine, and a former pro surfer. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Eastern Surf Magazine

"The most thorough, comprehensive guide to the sport of surfing ever."

Matt Warshaw is the former editor of Surfer magazine and has been writing about surfing for more than twenty years. A surfer all his life, he competed professionally in the early eighties. Warshaw's articles have been published in the New York Times Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and he is the author of several books on surfing. He lives in San Francisco.