Crossing: The Extraordinary Story of the First Man to Swim the English Channel

Captain Matthew Webb, a short, stocky sailor, in August 1875, became the first man to swim the English Channel. Feted and adored, praised and imitated; for a while, he was the most famous man in Britain and his gallant 22-hour endeavour helped to make swimming the popular sport it is today. It was to be both the highlight of his life and the beginning of his ruin.
This is the story of Webb, a man who achieved his dream but did not know what to do with it. He lived a life of adventure, offering himself to the crowd again and again as a champion swimmer, surrounded by a colourful array of sportsmen, stuntmen and gamblers. Through him, we glimpse a slice of Victorian society, a lusty, flamboyant, gaslit underworld of physical display and shady deals.