This book is only available direct from the Library, sent in special book boxes. Click on CLICK TO BUY to go through to the Library’s safe and secure order form.
Enjoy the information-packed visual trip back through squash’s rich past, right up to the players and landmarks of today!
A WORLD SQUASH LIBRARY PUBLICATION BRINGING THE RICH HISTORY OF THE SPORT ALIVE
The World Squash Library publication, Squash Then And Now: A Celebration, is a lavishly-illustrated pictorial history of the sport, covering over more than 150 years.
Across 240 pages the large sized compendium (29cm x 24cm) introduces the forerunners of the sport, reveals its origins in the early 1800s, and continues the comprehensive pictorial and vastly informative journey through to the present day.
From the first courts at Harrow School up to glass showcourts; from wooden rackets to the state-of-the-art wands of today; the progression of rules and scoring; the players who have become legends; the organisations around the world and the major events which have been career benchmarks: each with their details and stunning visuals.
The work has been created by Andrew Shelley, one of the international sport’s most highly-regarded figures who has been immersed in Squash for almost fifty years; together with Bas van Hoorn, a noted collector and specialist on early squash history.
“Squash has a rich history. It has evolved. It has so many landmarks, champions and records too – all of which are captured in the book in a compelling way. Fabulous images, many unique, from the early years from Bas’s collection provide a great picture of that period, right up to captivating photos of today’s stars. A glance at player names in the index reveals that around 400 are featured in the book! This is a unique resource for the sport from the Library, with any income generated from sales going directly to funding the archive,” Andrew Shelley said.
Two great champions, Jonah Barrington, along with record eight-time World Champion Nicol David, have both written forewords.
‘Wow. It covers just about EVERYTHING. What an amazing and historic work & tribute to our sport.’
Jamie Maddox, Squashstories.com
'I consider Squash Then and Now as one of the finest books written about the origin and the 150 years of squash development'.
Bert Armstrong, renowned collector.
‘The Book of all books .… a mine of information with fabulous unique images, from the early years right up to captivating photos of today’s stars.’
Squashsite.com
‘My advice to every squash lover is that you must get this book to read and find out how squash was then and now.’
Jahangir Khan, squash legend
‘A richly illustrated compendium of our sport’s development, that will see you through many a rainy Sunday afternoon.’
Squashplayer.com
'Squash Then and Now is an essential item for your coffee table. At the start of the book, the section on the games of tennis and racquets is an eighteen-page tour de force. It contains an unprecedented array of images of memorabilia that visually explicates the history of squash's forebears in a way that no other book ever has: seventeenth-century tokens and nineteenth-century racquets from Fleet Street and the King's Bench, the prisons where racquets originated; three different editions (!) of J.R. Atkins' 1872 The Book of Racquets; and the infamous walking stick that the Duke of Wellington lost as a bet in a 1801 racquets match in India. Every chapter is like that, full of unexpected artifacts that illuminate and inform. Squash Then and Now is much like the games it covers: singular, inimitable and deserving of widespread attention'.
James Zug, noted historian and author on court games