The impact of such films as Blue Crush and Step into Liquid (from the directors of the classic Endless Summer) have helped fuel a surfing renaissance that extends from aging baby-boomers down to upstart pre-teens. This boom is driving sales of surfer gear and duds—and set the stage for an Adrenaline Book that will do justice to the sport's surprisingly long history, which dates to well before Captain Cook's eighteenth century voyages of discovery. Big Wave taps into a lush literature that will appeal to virtual and visceral thrill-seekers of all ages. The book features great writing on every aspect of the sport: the exhilaration of riding tsunami-like breakers; the competition that drives surfers to defy death in the world's most dangerous waters; the turf wars that can end in violence; the terror of shark attacks; and the sheer Zen-like beauty of riding a wave the way it's meant to be ridden.