The Temple of Perfection
A History of the Gym
Distributed for Reaktion Books
272 pages
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25 halftones
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5 1/2 x 8 1/2
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© 2015
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
1. The Pursuit of Arete
2. The Rebirth of Vitruvian Man
3. The Health of Nations
4. The World’s Strongest Man
5. Pumping Iron
6. Let’s Get Physical
7. Macho Man
8. Consuming Fitness
References
Select Bibliography
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
1. The Pursuit of Arete
2. The Rebirth of Vitruvian Man
3. The Health of Nations
4. The World’s Strongest Man
5. Pumping Iron
6. Let’s Get Physical
7. Macho Man
8. Consuming Fitness
References
Select Bibliography
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Review Quotes
Jeffrey Weeks, London South Bank University and author of The World We Have Won and The Languages of Sexuality
“Gyms today are a familiar part of the life of millions of people across the globe and a regular aspect of a fitness and leisure oriented culture. But they have a long and fascinating history, from the pedagogic and military cultures of the ancient world to the sun swept beaches of California in the 1940s and ’50s through to the metrosexual body culture of today. Gyms are about fitness, well-being, beauty, and pleasure, but always about the body. Through their history we can see how the body is shaped, inscribed, worshipped, and displayed, in different ways at different times. Chaline has produced a compelling history that illuminates not just the culture of the gym but also our shifting obsessions with the body through three thousand years. It is a fascinating read.”
Times
“There were so many rich connections in this book that by the time you sweep through two millennia to the moment when Arnold Schwarzenegger became the posing-pouch politician, who, while pumping iron, said things like, ‘I was always dreaming about very powerful people, dictators and things like that,’ a lot of things clicked into place. . . . Humans are now machined in these body factories to better serve their corporate masters.”
Spectator
“The book is learned and well-researched. . . . It also furnishes some pretty interesting history.”
Commercial Dispatch
“An amusing and comprehensive tour.”
Choice
“A grounded perspective on today’s representations of the physical—from world-class soccer players to contestants on American Ninja Warriors.”
Gay & Lesbian Review
“Chaline’s book is full of interesting information, not to mention its useful historical overview and its clear prose.”
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