Author(s): Ian Heads; Gary Lester

SECONDHAND BOOKS | SPORT

The first formal sporting event in Australia was the racing festival in Hyde Park in October 1810. Until then sport in Australia had been conducted in a haphazard and ad hoc manner. The racing festival in Hyde Park changed all that. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of formal sport in Australia, two of our best known sports writers and biographers, Ian Heads & Gary Lester, have joined forces to produce one of the most exciting sporting books of recent years. And the Crowd Went Wild is a fresh and incisive view of sport which celebrates the formal beginnings of sport in Australia - 200 years ago. It includes a collection of some of the most unifying and thrilling moments in sport - connecting the reader to the "moment" as no one has attempted before. Major sporting events covered include: the first Melbourne Cup 1861; the first English cricket tour 1861-2; Jack Johnson v Tommy Burns (Sydney Stadium) 1908; Andrew Boy Charlton beating Arne Borg 1924; Alick Wickham's dive (still holds record) 1918; Phar Lap Melbourne Cup shooting attempt 1930; Marjorie Jackson's Gold Medals 1952; Jack Brabham - first world motor racing title 1959; Centenary Cricket Test 1977; First State of Origin 1980; Wayne Gardner's World 500cc win 1989; Warne's ball of the century 1993; Cathy Freeman Gold Medal in Sydney 2000; Stephen Hooker's pole vault and Matthew Mitcham's dive in Beijing 2008; and much more!

2010. First edition. A fine, unmarked copy in a fine d/w.