From sport's weirdest rules to its most unlikely heroes, each chapter of this book is brimming with surprising facts and intriguing stories, including the psychology of football chants, comically large cricket bats, pole-vaulting priests and professional pillow-fighting. Even if you've never asked yourself what David Attenborough has to do with yellow tennis balls, why Victorian doctors feared the outbreak of 'bicycle face'; or what led ancient Egyptian athletes to have their spleens removed, this book will give you the astonishing answers, and plenty more besides.