In the wake of several books published over the last decade on the history of United States fitness, historian Jürgen Martschukat offers an international examination of the subject by considering German and American fitness cultures in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Originally published in German in 2019, Martschukat's volume synthesizes a broad array of primary and secondary literature in chapters that, while not organized strictly chronologically, provide a multilayered narrative and advance critical perspectives on several themes in contemporary Western fitness. Chapters such as “Working,” “Having Sex,” and “Fighting” follow introductory sections that establish context for recent historical dynamics. Translated by Alex Skinner, the book is written in a clear and authoritative style that allows Martschukat's interpretative stance to reach a wide academic audience.
Comparative material on German history and culture comes as a welcome supplement to more well-covered American narratives. For Martschukat, what unites the story of...
