Run with the Olympic athletes and sweat it out in the deadly ballgame courts of the Aztecs in this beautifully illustrated and informative guide to the sports and games that have entertained people for the past 2500 years. How did the Vikings keep themselves occupied between raids? What tricks did medieval Japanese sumo wrestlers have to win their matches? With fascinating facts and detailed pictures, this book is the perfect guide to everything to do with games, from the tiniest chess pieces to the biggest sports tournaments

The history of boats is intertwined with our own - since the earliest times, humans have found ways to cross the bodies of water that cut them off from further exploration and expansion. From the woven rafts of ancient Mesopotamia, to Native American log canoes, through to Dutch merchant ships and onwards to today's modern sailing hydrofoils, trace the fascinating story of boats and their place in our culture.