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  • Strong as Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth by Don Tate
  • Elizabeth Bush
Tate, Don Strong as Sandow: How Eugen Sandow Became the Strongest Man on Earth; written and illus. by Don Tate. Charlesbridge, 2017 40p
ISBN 978-1-58089-628-3 $17.99 R 5-8 yrs

"Strongest Man on Earth"? With competing reports, self-promoting hype, and Louis Cyr (of Debon's The Strongest Man in the World, BCCB 5/07) on the strongman show circuit, it's hard to award that title to Eugen Sandow with certainty. He is, however, considered the father of body-building, and he turned himself from a scrawny kid into a bundle of muscle. After an exhausting career as a strongman, Sandow, no longer as bulky and buff as he was in his heyday, "launched the Great Competition," a men's body-building contest that assessed not only an impressive physique but also overall health and athleticism. While Louis Cyr and other muscleflexing contemporaries have passed into the history and record books, Sandow lives on as the gold-plated statuette awarded annually to Mr. Olympia. The grunting, hefting, and posing are presented here with a liberal helping of humor, and if viewers aren't rolling on the floor over the early twentieth century body-builder's costumes, they will be over the Sandow's own stint as a life model in an art studio. As engaging as Sandow's story is, endnotes command equal attention, particularly the historical follow-up in the afterword and Tate's own body-building interests and experience (complete with photograph) in the author's note. Source notes, a bibliography, and suggestions for some simple strengthening exercises are also included.

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