Løping. En verdenshistorie
Published by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag, 2008/2018
An original, funny, and almost improbable world history. Why do people run? Four millennia ago in Mesopotamia, King Shulgi ran from Nippur to Ur to take part in a religious festival. In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh had to run to prove his vitality and to hold on to power. And then there are the little-known naked runs, whore runs, endurance tests at bars, backward runs, monk runs, and the Inca Empire’s got professional runners. Thor Gotaas shows us what running, in all its remarkable diversity, is and has been for mankind.
It’s a unique book – a world history that will come as a revelation to everyone who reads it. The author guides the reader with numerous remarkable and curious stories through the history. Sold in more than 15 000 copies in Norway.
The reviewers wrote: “… it is an impressive marathon that Gotaas has completed, a book that many will enjoy reading, both runners and anti-runners, for that matter.” (Dagbladet)
Thor Gotaas (b. 1965) is an author and a folklorist. He has also written The Gypsies (2000), The First in the Race: The History of Cross-Country Skiing in Norway (2003), and Ski Makers: The History of Norwegian Skis (2007).
Translations: Running (2008). Sold to 15 countries: UK, Korea, Russia, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Japan, Egypt, Germany, Serbia, Hungary, Turkey, Czech, Slovakia, Denmark.