The Celebrated Captain Barclay, By Peter Radford

What was it about the British in the early 19th century? Fergus Fleming's Barrow's Boys revealed that the explorers of that era were inconceivably tough, careless of their lives, often stark mad. This equally remarkable book shows the same was true of the sporting fraternity. Though "a world mad on sport and entranced by gambling" may sound familiar, we're milksops compared to our Georgian forebears. When he inherited a fortune in 1799, the athletic tearaway Robert Barclay Allardice instantly gambled away over £6,000 (his estate's income for three years) in bets on physical endurance with another Scottish scion, known as the Daft Laird.

By walking 90 miles in 21 hours, Barclay won back 5,000 guineas from the Daft Laird in 1801. His greatest achievement came eight years later when he won a celebrated wager to walk 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours for 1,000 guineas, which reputedly attracted bets of £100,000 (perhaps £40 million today). As a result, Barclay became the uncrowned head of the claque of sporting wildbloods known as "The Fancy". He could lift half a ton in weight and demolish an 8lb leg of mutton in 10 minutes.

Oddly, self-indulgence went hand-in-hand with the first inklings of athletic training – although often of a rather unorthodox nature. Barclay trained prize-fighter Tom Cribb by feeding him raw steak and stale bread and tying him to a cart for a 30-mile trot. Packed with hilarious and mind-boggling detail, this is a splendid tribute from a double Olympic medallist (1960) to a wilder sporting era.