Wrestling (History of Sports) [Hardcover]

Don Nardo (Author)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Lucent Books; annotated edition edition (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560068930
• ISBN-13: 978-1560068938
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,497,380 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Don Nardo is a historian and award-winning writer who specializes in the ancient world, especially the civilizations of Greece and Rome. He began as a actor and worked with the National Shakespeare Company before turning to writing screenplays and teleplays and, soon afterward, devoting much of his time to historical research and writing. In the past two decades, he has published nearly two hundred volumes on diverse historical topics. And having earned numerous favorable reviews, he is widely recognized as the country's leading writer of historical works for young adults. He is also versed in various other subjects and as a result is frequently asked by publishers to write books on a number of scientific and literary topics.

Mr. Nardo also composes and arranges orchestral music, having started composing in his early teens. Over the years he has turned out more than eighty musical works, including 2 symphonies, 4 string quartets, several concertos, a film score, incidental music for stage productions, and several commissions, the most recent a double concerto for violin and Portuguese guitar written for two noted musicians. He is also the resident composer and arranger for the Amadis Orchestra, based in Connecticut. For more information, see his official web site at www.nardopublishing.com and his more extensive biography at Wikipedia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!, January 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Wrestling (History of Sports) (Hardcover)

For any fan of wrestling, amateur or professional, this is the best general history of the sport for students and general readers that I know of. It goes way back to ancient Egypt and and the Greeks and explains in detail about how they invented or perfected most of the holds and throws used in modern wrestling. The book also does a terrific job of tracing the development of the sport through the middle ages to early modern England, and from there to colonial America (where George Washington was known for being a champion wrestler!!!). It also tells how amateur and professional wrestling diverged in the late 1800s and early 1900s and how the professionals started out wrestling for real but later resorted to fakery. I recommend this book to all those who enjoy wrestling or just watching it, and also to sports fans in general.

5.0 out of 5 stars History was Never So Much Fun, June 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Wrestling (History of Sports) (Hardcover)

Yes, I did say history! This is not one of those silly bios of flamboyant pro wrestlers published to exploit teenaged mat fans. Rather, it tells, in considerable detail and in lively, readable prose, the entire history of the sport, from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to the courts of medieval kings to frontier America to the modern day, including both the amateur and professional versions. Important historical figures are profiled, and appropriate space is given to true greats of the sport, such as Frank Gotch and Dan Gable. The way the author traces the transition from real to fake wrestling in the pro ranks in the early decades of the twentieth century is masterful and fascinating. The only fault I can find with the book is the cover photo, which shows two outdated, unknown, and very ugly pro wrestlers in an unflattering pose. Otherwise, I highly recommend the book to all wrestling fans and anyone who like sports.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating from beginning to end, March 31, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Wrestling (History of Sports) (Hardcover)

I for one have to admit that didn't know that wrestling is the oldest sport around and that practically every society in human history has had some form of wrestling! This book gives the whole history of the sport in an easy to read style and covers both amateur and professional wrestling today, which is all very fascinating. I especially liked the section on the pro wrestlers of the early twentieth century, including the greatest of all, who was the amazing Frank Gotch.