num_pages: 472
description: Figure skating, unique in its sublimely beautiful combination of technical precision, musicality, and interpretive elements, has undergone many dramatic developments since the only other history of the sport was published in 1959. This exciting and information-packed new history describes skating's many technical and artistic advances, its important personages, its intrigues and scandals, and its historical high points. Abundant full-color and black-and-white photographs illustrate the text. James R. Mines divides his history into three periods separated by the World Wars. First, he follows functional and recreational ice skating through its evolution into national schools, culminating in the establishment of the International Skating Union and the ascendancy of an international style of skating. Second, he explains the changes that occurred as the sport expanded into the form we recognize and enjoy today. And finally, he shows how skating became increasingly athletic, imaginative, and intense following World War II, as the main focus turned to the skaters themselves.
language: English
title: Figure Skating: A HISTORY
publisher: University of Illinois Press