Wimbledon

NEW FIFTH EDITION - BRINGS THE STORY FULLY UP-TO-DATE It was to raise funds for the repair of a broken pony roller, so essential for the upkeep of the lawns at their ground in Nursery Lane, Wimbledon, that the All England Croquet Club first decided to hold a tennis tournament. In this lavishly illustrated and expanded fifth edition of the definitive Wimbledon history, John Barrett has traced the process by which a small croquet club in rural Surrey has grown to become the world's most famous tennis club and home to one of the great international sporting and social occasions. It is a romantic story that reflects the ages, decade by decade, from the chivalrous Victorian days when the whalebone stays the ladies wore beneath their ankle-length dresses often drew blood and the gentlemen played in striped shirts, cricket caps and long stockings, to today's white-clad gladiators in functional attire befitting super-fit international athletes of the 21st century. Within these pages you will find all the game's heroes and heroines captured in action and in vivid detail through the lenses of the world's leading sports photographers.