Surfing: 1778-Today (English)

This book, at 15 pounds, is big enough to be a pulpit Bible. It's printed on heavy paper and comes with its own storage box; I think it should be in excellent condition a century or two from now.The text is by experts and worth reading, but the main draw is the imagery. The surfing photos are superb and well chosen, but someone interested mainly in the history of surfing photography might go instead to The Surfer's Journal book series, Masters of Surf Photography, and also Matt Warshaw's "Photo/Stoner" from Chronicle Books. Taschen has a fine, affordable photo book on Leroy Grannis, who is well represented in "Surfing.""Surfing" is indispensable documentation of the changing culture of surfing. It's no substitute for an archive full of old surfing magazines, of course, but there's no other comparable collection of images. It has everything from rare Honolulu prints and posters of the early 20th century to movie posters, magazine covers, advertising, psychedelia, a full spread from "Apocalypse Now" with another apocalyptic spread of Huntington Beach burning in a riot. The pages of carefully photographed trunks (someone must collect vintage surf fashions) must be unique. Everything looks fresh and beautiful. Enormous work went into picking the best; more must have gone into obtaining permissions. Yet more must have gone into ensuring image quality. The matte paper adds to the overall effect.

I've been a fan of Jim Heimann since "Out With The Stars" and his latest tome not disappoint. "Surfing" is a lovingly compiled and presented epic of a book. Chock full of images that I have never seen before.

My name is Peter Soria & I received my copy of "Surfing" today. It will take many hours to completely experience it from cover to cover but just from leafing through it I can tell that this could be the ultimate book about the history of surfing. I am pleased that a photo that I took of surfers at Pacific Ocean Park can be found on page 302 & the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center in San Clemente will financially benefit from its inclusion in the book. Someday I will write a more thorough review from the point of view of someone who was an avid surfer from 1962-2010.

As advertised

It was a gift for my Fiancé. He LOVED it!!

Amazing Surfing book!! Incredible pictures and complete history of surfing. Love the thickness and the box it comes in.

Just a wonderful book. The history is unmatched from anything I have read before. It must have taken years to amass the photos. It's something that you just can't lay down or read once.

Bought for my husband who is an avid surfer! He loves this gift very much!