CONTENTS

Foreword by George Plimpton Prologue

1. The Joints Trembled on the Spit The origins of racquets sports with real tennis and racquets; the invention of squash at Harrow School in England

2. Heaven's Heaviest Artillery The birth of squash in America at St. Paul's School in 1884; infancy in Philadelphia; the strange and sad history of the game of squash tennis; the saga of standardization and why North American squash developed the narrow court and harder ball.

3. Don't Keep Late Hour Harvard's squash dynasty, 1922-1937; Harry Cowles, genius coach of seven national champions.

4. Hollow-Eyed and Squeaky The start of women's squash; Yale and intercollegiate squash; squash on the Titanic; a tour of squash cities and tournaments in the 1920s and '30s.

5. Send for the Drama Critic The Merion Cricket Club juggernaut; the Diehl Mateer/Henri Salaun rivalry of the 1950s; the start of the U.S.Open and the arrival of the Khans.

6. A Clam in Mud at Low Tide Victor Niederhoffer; the game expands across the nation; women, juniors and colleges in the 1950s and '60s; Harvard dynasty redux under Jack Barnaby.

7. Sex, Scandal and Celebrities Public squash in the 1970s -- the great explosion.

8. Box of Rain The North American professional tour of the 1980s.

9. 18-16 in the Fifth Mark Talbott versus Jahangir Khan, November 1984.

10. Bait and Switch The tortuous change from North American to international standards.

11. The Infinitely Greater Game A short history of squash doubles.

12. This Mollycoddled Age Squash in the twenty-first century; rebirth and expansion; dreams of Olympic gold and a new generation of players.

Acknowledgments Bibliography Notes Appendix: Record of Champions Index