Chronicle Books

Matt Warshaw, the former editor of Surfer magazine, has become the sport's foremost historian, his incredible depth of knowledge expressed in the wide-ranging online Encyclopedia of Surfing — a one-man, nonprofit, ad-free archive of a kind that exists for no other sport. For those who just want to dip a toe into the warm and tubular waters of surf culture, A Brief History of Surfing is the way to go.

Huw Lewis-Jones's collection of field sketches by explorers, naturalists, and adventurers. Darwin's finches, Shackleton's ice, botanical illustrations from the Amazon. The drawings people made before cameras, when seeing meant drawing.

Burkard's photography of surfing the California coast — from the Oregon border to the Mexican border, every break along the way.

If sports could wish, every sport wishes it could be treated with the depth, breadth, love, and wit that Matt Warshaw has given surfing. The former editor of Surfer magazine, Warshaw is the preeminent chronicler of surfing history, and no one else is even close. But if the word “history” sounds musty, fear not: The writing crackles with vitality, the pace moves quickly, and Warshaw is mindful to place surfing’s tides within broader cultural currents, showing how each influenced the other. Surfer or not, this is a book any adventurer will love.

Field sketches from centuries of ocean voyaging — navigators, naturalists, and sailors drawing what they saw before cameras existed. Lewis-Jones curates the art of observation at sea.