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"Nowadays, figure skating is largely about jumps and the impressiveness of how many spins you can make in the air. However, the jumps have not always been figure skating's most prominent feature. When did the jumps emerge, how, and why? Who invented them - if that is even possible to know? These questions are addressed in Ryan Stevens' book." - Anna Maria Hellborg, Department of Sport Sciences, Malmö University, Idrottsforum Much has been written about figure skating jumps over the years, but most of it has focused on technique. Precious little has been written from a historical perspective. Jam-packed with fascinating information about the origins and international evolution of figure skating jumps, "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" includes: - Essays on the waltz jump, toe-loop, Salchow, loop, flip, Lutz, Axel, pairs throws, twists and side-by-side jumps. There is even a chapter devoted to the history of the backflip.- Data on a wide variety of technical firsts achieved under the International Skating Union's IJS system.- Dozens of compelling, little-known facts about the people who have been responsible for some of the biggest technical achievements in the world's most exciting winter sport. If you love figure skating, you will not be able to put this book down. Order your copy today!

If you love reading about figure skating, this is the book for you!"A Bibliography of Figure Skating" is quintessential guide to reading about the world's most exciting sport. This fascinating reference book highlights over a century of figure skating literature, including biographies, historical books and periodicals in over a dozen languages.Read about the first Bibliography of Skating, penned during the Victorian era by Frederick William Foster. Learn helpful tips and tricks to help you track down rare books and magazines, many of which are now out of print. Expand your knowledge of Olympic figure skating stars past and present and begin crafting your own ultimate figure skating library.

"Ryan's journalistic ability to unearth historical details and mix them into a compelling story is first-class! While balancing accuracy and fairness, he reveals a man whose life demonstrated enormous talent and creativity, celebrity and human frailty." - Debbi Wilkes, Olympic Silver Medallist, author and figure skating commentator "Informative, lively and scholarly, without being dry, packing in a wealth of figure skating history... Impeccable." - Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review Jackson Haines left America during the height of the Civil War and embarked on a remarkable journey across Europe. With his ingenious translation of ballet onto the ice, he revolutionized the world of figure skating. Mesmerizing Czars and Emperors with his breathtaking performances, he became a catalyst for the creation of several of the world's oldest skating clubs. He left such an indelible impact that he is remembered today as The Father of Figure Skating. In this captivating biography, figure skating historian Ryan Stevens masterfully recounts Jackson Haines' incredible story, from his modest origins in New York to his tragic death in Finland in 1875 - both on and off the ice. If you are curious about the history of figure skating, this book will both surprise and fascinate you.

'A groundbreaking debut from an extraordinary writer ... a testament to where a woman can go after rock-bottom'PIPER KERMAN, New York Times bestselling author of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACKKeri Blakinger's brave, brutal memoir, Corrections in Ink, is a riveting story about suffering, recovery and redemption' DAVID SHEFF, NEW YORK TIMESKeri Blakinger had always lived at full throttle. Whether flying through the air, chasing Olympic dreams on the ice rink; surviving on as few calories as she could; or balancing a heroin addiction with pursuing a degree at an Ivy League university. But on a cold December day, Keri is arrested with a Tupperware container full of heroin. Shortly afterwards, she is convicted and sent to prison.Forced to confront her addiction, Keri finally manages to break free of it, and finds herself in a place unlike anything she has experienced before: a world built on senseless brutality, but whose inhabitants, her fellow inmates, will change her life forever.Written in luminous prose, with searing honesty and flashes of dark humour, Corrections in Ink shines a light on a broken prison system, and the cruelty and kindness Blakinger experienced there. It is a radical call for justice, and a testament to the power of finding one's voice.

Taking us from the beginning of our story to the present day, A Cold Spell examines how ice has shaped our thoughts, actions and societies - and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet'Bracingly original . . . As the earth warms threateningly, there could hardly be a more pertinent time for a story like this' MICHAEL PALIN'A book of limitless fascinations' OLIVIA LAINGIce has confounded, delighted and fascinated us since the first sparks of art and culture in Europe and it now underpins the modern world. Without ice, we would not feed ourselves or heal our sick as we do, and our towns and cities, countryside and oceans would look very different. Science would not have progressed along the avenues it did and our galleries and libraries would be missing many masterpieces.A Cold Spell uses this vital link to understanding our past to tell a surprising story of obsession, invention and adventure - how we have lived and dreamed, celebrated and traded, innovated, loved and fought over thousands of years. It brings together a sacrificial Incan mummy, Winston Churchill's secret plans for unusual aircraft carriers, strange bones that shook Victorian beliefs about the world and a macabre journey into the depths of the human body. It is an original and unique way of looking at something that is literally all around us, whose loss confronts us daily in the news, but whose impact on our lives has never been fully explored.

Physical education teacher G. U. A. Vieth became the first German author to describe ice skating in writing when a lecture he gave in 1788 was published in a journal in 1789. It was reprinted as a small book in 1790. This book has eluded skating historians for years; now it is available in English for the first time.

Everything in Irina's life, good or bad, comes from her passion for skating. She is most at home when she's on the ice. Whether it is a pond or a Zamboni-smoothed ice rink.Irina's hard work and talent draw the right people to her. Leonide Pashenka, her coach and Bryan Blair, her pairs partner, both believe the team will be top competitors. Bryan comes from a rich, socially prominent family whose help affords the team the opportunity to travel the world and compete in prestigious skating events.When tragedy strikes, a whole new group of people attended creating a different environment than she had ever known. Out of chaos come answers to some of her deepest questions. Finally, the fulfilment of a dream.

At age fifteen, Katie Wilder might be one of the greatest figure skaters in the world . . . but no one even knows she exists. When a childhood accident leaves her face so severely scarred that she wears a mask, Katie never leaves the Ice Castle, the rink owned by her father, a once-famous coach. Skating since she could walk, and without friends and distractions, every moment is dedicated to her passion¿skating¿under her father's guidance.However, when her father returns to coaching and Olympic hopefuls come to train, her safe and private world is gone. Katie searches for the courage to not only show the world what she can do on the ice, but more importantly, make her first friend, and start to live a life that extends outside the rink.

Called "the figure skater's bible" by Time Magazine, "The Art of Skating" by national figure skating champion and Olympic competitor Irving Brokaw traces the history and development of the sport from its beginnings in 1100 to the book's original publication in 1910.The book provides an expert's view, with chapters on skating history, skating implements, figure and free skating, proper form, and more. Practical skating techniques and directions are defined and portrayed through numerous diagrams and over 100 black-and-white photographs of "skaters in action."