The Crossing: The Curious Story of the First Man to Swim the English Channel - Hardcover

Watson, Kathy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158542109X ISBN 13: 9781585421091

Publisher: Tarcher, 2001

Synopsis

The author illuminates the life of Matthew Webb--the first man to swim the English channel--and explores the consequences of his resulting fame on his life.

About this title

About the Author

Kathy Watson, formerly a BBC radio producer, is the editor of Women's Realm magazine.

Reviews

London journalist Watson delivers a sensitive, well-wrought account of the life of Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old British merchant seaman who in 1875 became the first person to swim the English Channel making it from Dover to Calais in under 22 hours, a feat not duplicated for 36 years. Fueled by frequent servings of coffee, beer and brandy, suffering from a jellyfish sting, Webb traversed the icy, "frighteningly unpredictable" 21-mile Channel by overcoming tides so strong that he actually swam over 40 miles. Watson details Webb's early life, his status as "probably the best known and most popular man in the world" after his deed, his tragic fall from grace and his death at age 35 while swimming below Niagara Falls. Watson deftly contextualizes this obscure sporting figure: "His crossing gave swimming an enormous boost, transforming it almost overnight into one of the most popular participant sports in the country"; government-supported swimming baths proliferated and still thrive today. Watson carefully recounts the increasingly exploitative Victorian popular culture in which Webb's popularity yielded to new fads; he had to resort to less-than-professional "championship" races and cheap stunts to support his family. A Channel swimmer herself, Watson understands that the crossing "is never less than a rite of passage in the swimmer's life" and that history "has remembered Webb only in isolated flashes, but his real and lasting monument surely lies in the spirit of all the men and women who, since his crossing, have tried to swim the channel." (Sept.)Forecast: Expect a big push for this book the sales representatives chose it from among Penguin/Putnam's imprints' lists as this season's nonfiction "pick of the list."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In August 1875, 27yearold Matthew Webb did what seems relatively normal today: he swam the English Channel, diving into the water at Dover and emerging in Calais, more than a day later. Webb, however, was the first person to accomplish this feat; his achievement and its aftermath are chronicled in Watson's fascinating account. A ship's captain by trade, Webb apparently failed to consider that swimming the channel would utterly change his life. Afterward, all he wanted was to find a decent job, but his adoring public had other ideas. Forced against his will to become a marathon swimmer and, later, a performer of ludicrously lifethreatening feats, Webb was a victim of his own achievement, literally as well as metaphorically: in 1883 he died trying to swim the rapids at Niagara Falls. Watson's sensitively written account makes us care about this nearly forgotten historical figure whose life might have served as a warning about the double-edged sword of celebrity. With the right promotion, this could become one of this fall's sleeper success stories. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

In 1875, Matthew Web became the first person to swim the English Channel. At the time, he was an unknown ship captain, but this exploit catapulted him to fame. At first he tried to escape the limelight, but eventually he began to crave it. He did various swimming stunts and exhibitions to try to make his fortune but ended up ruining his health and eventually losing his life when he attempted to traverse the rapids and the quarter-mile whirlpool of the Niagara River. Watson, a former BBC radio producer and magazine editor, chronicles Webb's life in impressive detail, focusing on his childhood, years at sea, and many swimming exploits. The result is a fascinating narrative, written in straightforward and readable prose, that encompasses one man's success and desperation and his remarkable strength which ended in the corruption of the spirit. Recommended for libraries with large sports or biography sections. Kathleen Shanahan, Kensington, MD
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Tarcher
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 158542109X
• ISBN 13: 9781585421091
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288