Berkshire Encyclopedia of Extreme Sports

The Berkshire Encyclopedia of Extreme Sports provides the first international survey of extreme sports. It is a state-of-the-art summary of where extreme sports are today, where they have come from, and how they are likely to grow and change in the years ahead. “Extreme,” when applied to sports, means a wide variety of physical pursuits and activities such as bungee jumping, dirt biking, sky surfing, and rock climbing. “Extreme” means individualist, adventure-type sports rather than traditional team sports such as baseball, cricket, and hockey and rigidly defined individual sports such as swimming and tennis. “Extreme” also refers to the antisocial attitudes and uncompromising values associated with these new sports—attitudes and values that are often in sharp contrast to those of more conservative, mainstream, and middle-class sports.