The Crossing
Report an issue
Tell us what's wrong and we'll take a look.
Thanks – we got it. We'll review and follow up if needed.
On the night of 24 August 1875 Matthew Webb, a 27-year-old British Navy captain, launched himself into the English Channel at Dover. Twenty-one hours and 45 minutes later he became the first man to swim the English Channel. In this acclaimed biography, Kathy Watson shows how Captain Webb was instrumental in bringing the sport of swimming into the modern era. It is also a study of the Victorian drive to push back the boundaries of endurance. In THE CROSSING, Watson uses this great British eccentric's extraordinary life as a springboard to explore themes of obsession and failure and the emerging force of the media, and swimming's place in our psyche.
Kathy Watson
Kathy Watson was a public relations executive and journalist, including six years as editor-in-chief of Oregon Business magazine, before she embarked on a radically new second act as a chef and restaurant owner. Her debut novel, Orphans of the Living (She Writes Press, 2025), is a Literary Titan Book Award Gold Medalist in Fiction. She lives in Hood River, Oregon, where she writes, cooks, and runs and hikes the Columbia River Gorge with her husband, Stu, and Satchel, the world’s best dog.
More by Kathy Watson
Why Readwise Books?
Readwise Books is an ebook & audiobook platform that automatically logs how much you and your friends read, making it fun and easy to read more. Learn more →