History buffs and sports enthusiasts will enjoy this little book full of information about those games that are no longer played and/or lost to obscurity (usually for a very good reason). The vast majority feature cruelty to animals which I suppose one could expect from a book titled Fox Tossing and Other Forgotten and Dangerous Sports, Pastimes, and Games but boy was it brutal. Bears, rats, dogs, cats, and even tortoises weren't exempt from the savagery of man. Besides the sports that featured the capture, suffering, and eventual death of animals there were those that were just plain idiotically dangerous. For example, would you like to participate in a rousing game of Human Fishing whereby you are the fish attached to a fishing line with another person trying to reel you in? What about Waterfall-Riding over Niagara in a barrel? Of course, you could always play it safe and indulge in everyone's favorite past-time of Dwile Flonking where a person who is blindfolded tries to hit his friends with a mop soaked in beer. Yes, this was a real thing.

While I enjoyed learning about the different past-times enjoyed by people all over the world through the ages the sheer amount that relied on the maltreatment of animals made this not exactly a fun read. Information = 10/10 Fun reading experience = 5/10 ( )

For lovers of sport, connoisseurs of eccentricity, and those seeking unusual and perhaps dangerous pastimes this wittily written and well researched book deserves to become a benchmark. The book summarises the rules, history and appeal (or lack of it) of almost one-hundred generally forgotten sports and almost all the entries are accompanied by photos or prints. A typical comment is, "Alas, balloon jumpers never quite managed to refine the sport to a level of safety below "frequently lethal..."" ( )