'I was riveted by<i> Sweat </i>and its extraordinary tale of the ups and downs of exercise over millennia' Jane Fonda

'Does what all good history books should do- take the past and make it vastly more human' The Times

From the author of Insomniac City 'who can tackle just about any subject in book form, and make you glad he did' (San Francisco Chronicle) - a cultural, scientific, literary, and personal history of exercise.

Exercise is our modern obsession, and we have the fancy workout gear and fads to prove it. Exercise - a form of physical activity distinct from sports, play, or athletics - was an ancient obsession, too, but as a chapter in human history, it's been largely overlooked.

In Sweat, Bill Hayes runs, jogs, swims, spins, walks, bikes, boxes, lifts, sweats, and downward-dogs his way through the origins of different forms of exercise, chronicling how they have evolved over time, and dissecting the dynamics of human movement.