Pétanque: A Global History

In 1907, an old man who could no longer run threw a steel boule from a circle drawn in the gravel outside a café in the little Provençal harbour town of La Ciotat. Feet planted - pieds tanqués. That small act of mercy invented a game that has since travelled the world. Pétanque: A Global History follows where it went. This is not a rulebook. It is the story of pétanque as an international family - thirteen countries, fourteen stories, told by Mats Hamberg, a player and coach of more than thirty years. Inside, the journey runs: - France - the motherland, and the café where it all began in 1907 - Belgium - the forgotten Spa meeting in 1957 where the world federation was born - Italy - Diego Rizzi, "the Alien", and his home World Championship gold in Rome 2025 - The Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain & Germany - Europe's quietly thriving scenes - Sweden - a declaration of love in seven acts, mercury-filled boules and all - Madagascar - perhaps the most pétanque-mad nation on earth, per capita - Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia - the Indochina trio, and Ke Leng's four straight world titles > From the gravel of Marseille to the temple gardens of Bangkok, from Bad Godesberg to Phnom Penh, this is the human history of the world's most democratic sport - where a world champion and a retired baker can meet in the first round, throw at the same jack, and share a pastis afterwards. For everyone who knows that pétanque is something more than just a game.

Pagina's: 128, Paperback, Independently published