surfresearch.com.au    references : books f

2003  Falzon, Albert : Morning of the Earth Woolloomooloo Picture Co. in association with Emap Australia Pty. Ltd., Level 6 187 Thomas St. Haymarket NSW 2000.  Soft cover, 211 pages, extensive black and white and colour photographs. Review Photographs and lyrics from Albert Falzon's 1972 film of the same name, supplemented by comments by Albert Falzon's and some of the film's surfers. There are also a number of photographs that that are not featured in the film, mostly included in First Things First - a scrapbook collection, pages 182 to 203. Unfortunately there is little design detail about the featured boards, some of which are significant, and the last segments of the film (Pipeline and Sunset Beach) are restricted to two pages.

1965  Farrelly, Midget. As told to McGregor, Craig :  This Surfing Life Rigby Limited, James Place, Adelaide  Hard cover, 138 pages, 68 black & white photographs, 8 b/w illustrations, Glossary.  Review Excellent overview of all aspects of surfing in Australia up to 1965. Excellent photographs and illustrations (by Gary Birdsall).  Now a significant historical record.  The cover image first printed as the cover of Surfabout Magazine Vol.1 No.5, circa 1963. The USA edition of 1967 is in a different format, with a change to the title : (This)/The Surfing Life. Also UK edition, 1968, with another change to the title (How to Surf) and printed in a small format with a soft cover.

1967  Farrelly, Midget. As told to McGregor, Craig :  The Surfing Life Arco Publishing Company, Inc. 219 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10003 Hard cover, 192 pages, 68 black & white photographs, 8 b/w illustrations, Glossary.  Review Excellent overview of all aspects of surfing in Australia up to 1965. Excellent photographs and illustrations (by Gary Birdsall).  Now a significant historical record.  USA edition, 1967 in a different format, with a change to the title : (This)/The Surfing Life. Also UK edition, 1968, with another change in title (How to Surf) and in a small format with a soft cover.

1968  Farrelly, Midget. As told to McGregor, Craig : How to Surf  Sphere Books Limited, London, UK. Soft cover, 144 pages, 36 black and white photographs/plates, 8 black and white illustrations, Glossary. Review Sightly revised edition of 1965 publication above.  There is some minor variation in the text (World Title results 1966 and 1968 included), but half the photographs have been dropped.  The only other updating appears to be the illustraion of fin templates, page 71. Some of the photographs are different, but none from 1966-68.

2006  Fenton, Peter :  They Called Him Boy. Random House Australia Pty Ltd 20 Alfred Street, Milsons Point, NSW 2061, 2006. Soft cover, 258 pages, 40 black and white plates, Acknowledgements. Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc. Review  Boy Charlton was one of Australia's most succesful swimmers and a regular surf shooter at Manly.

1977  Filosa, Gary Fairmont R. :  The Surfer's Almanac - An International Surfing Guide. A Sunrise BooK E. P. Dutton, 201 Park Avenue, South New York, NY, 1977. Hard cover, 208 pages, 16 b/w photographs, map, Bibliography, Index.  Review  This book was soundy criticised by Surfer magazine upon its release in 1977, with reason. It is a poor addition to surfriding literature, apart from one rare photograph of Duke Kahanamoku, page 7. The bulk of the work is a surfing guide to the world's surf breaks (map, pages xiv and xv). The Australian entries are occasionally inaccurate ("Dee Why ... is a well formed left-slide, 8 to 17 feet, off a point", page 145) and many place names are spelt incorrectly. As the current president of the American Surfing Association, Filosa promotes surfing as a college sport and for inclusion in the Olympic Games and, perhaps uniquely, credits the invention of the "modern wetsuit" to Hugh Bradner, page 9.

1966  Finney, Ben and Houston, James D. :  Surfing – The Sport of Hawaiian Kings Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo, Japan. Second printing 196x, Third printing 1971 Hard cover, 110 pages, 26 b/w photographs, 13 b/w illustrations,  Appendices, Notes, Bibliography.  Review Originally developed by Ben Finney as his master’s thesis in anthropology at the University of Hawai’i and revised by James D Houston this book is a wonderfully detailed work, it’s text, photographs and illustrations have been reproduced in a multitude of subsequent publications. A large number of the photographs, many by Ron Church, are not reproduced in the 1996 edition. Special Note: Illustration #23 : Crowded Waikiki page 82 - over 50 solid, lamimated or hollow timber boards at Waikiki, circa 1940. Not reproduced in the 1996 edition.

1996  Finney, Ben and Houston, James D. :  Surfing – A History of the Ancient Hawaiian Sport Pomegranate Books  P.O. Box 6099 Rohnert Park, CA 94927, 1996. Soft cover, 117 pages, 20 b/w photographs, 24 b/w illustrations,  Appendices, Notes, Bibliography.  Review *The text from the 1966 edition is reprinted with a revised selection of images.  The original maps and diagrams are significantly improved and most of the comtemporary photographs have been replaced with earlier material.  Apart from the value of the original text this edition includes: Appendix B (Lt. James King 1778),

Also note, a number of early reports identifying juvenile surfriders may be a result of the observer witnessing the activity in benign and relatively common climatic conditions (that is, small surf), whereas adult surfriders are more likely to test their skills in more extreme, and much rarer, swell events.

The other crucial assumptions that probably deserve further analysis are the identification of "true surfboards" as essentially based on length (1996, page 24) and the implication that "true surfing" is in a standing position (1996, also page 24).
While length is important, surfboard performance is also function of width and volume.
By concentrating on riding in a standing position, certainly the dominant method in 1966, the analysis does not account for other indicators of surfriding skill, principally wave size and critical positioning.
For example, in the period 1965 to 1969, some commentators consider the world's best, strictly in terms of surfriding performance, was Californian kneeboarder, George Greenough.

1999 Flannery, Tim (Editor) : The Birth of Sydney The Text Publishing Company Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 1999 Grove Press  841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. 2000. Soft cover, 349 pages, 15 maps and illustrations, Introduction  Selected primary sources with explanary notes. Notes on Sources (Biographical). Notes on Illustrations. Review An excellent contribution to Australian history. A relevant entry to this page may be

2008  Fordham, Michael:  The Book of Surfing - The Killer Guide. Transworld Publishers 61-63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA. A Random House Group Company. www.rbooks.co.uk Review  A well presented guide that covers a vast spectrum of the elements of surfing and it's associated culture. There is a fine balance across the different historical eras and, written from a British perspective, a similar balance between the dominant centres of surfing that is usually lacking from writers from Hawaii, California or Australia. Particually suitable for the beginner or the immediate surfer with a wealth of instructional material largely assisted by simple, but informative, illustrations. The maps and the shoreline illustrations, particularly "Type of Wave" cross-sections, are excellent. Page 267 notes: "www.surfresearch.com.au  Brilliantly informed online journal of surf culture from an Australian perspective."

1998  Foster, Nigel : Nigel Foster's Surf Kayaking The Globe Pequot Press, P.O. Box 833 Old Saybrook, Connecticut. Soft cover, 101 pages, 94 colour photographs / sequences, Glossary, Index. Review Extensive/intensive How-to manual for a surfcraft particually suited for cold water surfing, largely ignored by the mainstream surfing media.  Details on surf-skis (pages 5 - 6).  Some locations (un-named) feature quality waves.

1989  Franki, George : The Balmoral Beach Club - 75 Years, 1914-1989. The Balmoral Beach Club The Esplanade, Balmoral NSW, 1989. Review

1980 Freeman, Tony : Beginning Surfing Childrens Press, Chicago. Hard cover, 46 pages, 44 colour photographs / sequences. Review A very basic beginners book with no significant highlights. Design photographs features Infinity flyer rounded pin tail twin fin with atypical finboxes. Surfing photographs are a consistent low quality despite the author/photographer being a teacher of photography for eight years.

1953  Funnell, Ronald S. The Art of Surf-Riding on the Cornish Coast A. Wheaton and Co. Ltd  Soft cover, 36 pages, 9 black and white photographs. Review Instructional pamplet-like publication that extolls the virtues and dangers of surf-riding - in this case prone riding on narrow solid wood boards as illustrated by the cover. See Paipo Catalogue.  Includes several advertisments for Newquay businesses and for "The New SOLARBO BALSA BOARDS" - see Source Documents Menu. The author also wrote The Art of Surf-riding, 1934 - no other details available.

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Note
This is not a complete list of surfing books, only books read and reviewed  for this site are listed.
For more comprehensive lists go to...
The Surfing Bibliography - Surfing Books
- Steven  Whelan's (England) comprehensive list of books, film, video and magazines, listed alphabetically.
and/or
The Water Log Surfing Bibliography
- excellent listing of books and journals  by Daved Marsh (USA), listed by category.

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