The World in the Curl: An Unconventional History of Surfing

A definitive and highly readable history of surfing and the cultural political economic and environmental consequences of its evolution from a sport of Hawaiian kings and queens to a billion-dollar worldwide industry Despite its rebellious outlaw reputation or perhaps because of it surfing occupies a central place in the American and global imagination embodying the tension between romantic counterculture ideals and middle-class values between an individualistic communion with nature and a growing commitment to commerce and technology. In examining the enduring widespread appeal of surfing in both myth and reality The World in the Curl offers a fresh angle on the remarkable rise of the sport and its influence on modern life. Drawing on Peter Westwick and Peter Neushuls expertise as historians of science and technology the environment and the Cold War as well as decades of experience as surfers themselves The World in the Curl brings alive the colorful history of surfing by drawing readers into the forces that fueled the sports expansion: colonialism the military-industrial complex globalization capitalism environmental engineering and race and gender roles. In an engaging and provocative narrative history from the spread of surfing to the United States to the development of surf culture to the reintroduction of women into the sport to big wave frontiers the authors draw an indelible portrait of surfing and surfers as actors on the global stage.