Book of the Week: Two Planks and a Passion, by Roland Huntford

Don't be fooled by the jaunty cover and slightly excitable title – this is a deeply scholarly work of 436 close-packed pages. It traces skiing back to its origins with the hunters of the last Ice Age 22,000 years ago, and goes on to examine its evolution into an Olympic sport and huge leisure industry. Fortunately, scholarly in this instance is not synonymous with dull, and while some might prefer to skim detailed passages dealing with matters such as the development of modern equipment, by and large Huntford manages to bind a wealth of material together with a strong narrative thread. He explains how the Norwegian Roald Amundsen's party beat Captain Scott in the race to the South Pole because they were better skiers, details the military influence behind the first ski races, and how Victorian entrepreneur Dr Henry Lunn organised the first skiing package holiday. Apt choice of illustrations helps to justify the not-insignificant cover price; but then skiing for Britons has never been a poor man's sport.

Published in hardback by Continuum, £25