{"product_id":"coffee-table-book-of-the-sport-of-diving-hardcover","title":"Coffee Table Book of: The Sport of Diving (Hardcover)","description":"\u003cp\u003eCoffee Table Book of: The Sport of Diving is a large format book of diving, printed edge to edge in colour, one picture to a page and the widest carried across two: springboards and high platforms, deep pools seen from above, towels and chamois, the gear being made and cared for, old bathing places, and a few divers seen far off in plain dark clothing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe kit is laid out plain: the gritty tip of a springboard, the wheel that sets its spring, the hinge and handrails behind it, a close cut suit on a hook, a chamois and a towel, wrist tape and pool slides, the sprays and bubbles that soften the water, and the trampolines, belts and dry boards of training on land.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe care follows a springboard given a fresh gritty coat, a trampoline bed of woven straps, towels and chamois hung to dry, and a pool brushed, skimmed, tested and drained. The past runs from wooden springboards and knitted wool suits to river, lake and beach stages, tidal sea pools, a seaside pier, old public baths, a vaulting horse from the gymnasium and the stepped concrete stages of the open air pools.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen the places, empty at every hour and in every season: indoor halls at first light, dusk and night, outdoor pools in fog, rain, frost, snow and moonlight, sea cliffs and quarries, a river gorge, a sinkhole and a waterfall pool, and a few small divers far off, rising from the board, holding a handstand on the edge and entering the water with almost no splash.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShort notes run through the book, on the gear and how it works, the water and weather divers watch, and the history of the sport: modern springboards are aluminium boards about five metres long, light and very springy, early springboards were long planks of wood, heavier and less lively than modern boards, a wheel rolls the fulcrum under a springboard, making the board stiffer or springier, and sprays ruffle the water so that divers high above can see where the surface lies.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrinted in full colour on heavy 150gsm coated paper at 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 inches), as a hardcover with the art printed on the case.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cedar Pine Editions","offers":[{"title":"Case Bound - PPC","offer_id":68149597471024,"sku":"9671456004778","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0262\/2357\/5085\/files\/9671456004778.jpg?v=1792639408","url":"https:\/\/www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk\/products\/coffee-table-book-of-the-sport-of-diving-hardcover","provider":"The Great British Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}