Book excerpt: Total Sports is the ultimate guide to the world's sports, from the best-known to the most obscure. Total Sports showcases the different sports by grouping them into categories, such as team sports, target sports, and athletics. Dynamic photography brings the subject to life, and works together with clear explanations and artworks to describe fields of play, equipment and clothing, teams and players, rules and tactics, key techniques, and common terms. Total Sports outlines the geographical range, history, and major competitions for each sport. Fact boxes highlight key information including star profiles, record-breakers, and top tens, as well as the weirdest facts, bizarrest moments, and sport's most colorful characters. A special section on the Olympic and Paralympic Games, looks at their history, from the early Greek games right up to the present day. All 33 Olympic sports are clearly identified and explained on the spreads, making Total Sports the must-have title for sports aficionados everywhere.