Table Tennis Complete by Johnny Leach

Table Tennis Complete (Champion's Illustrated Instruction Guide in Dust Jacket)

A Classic Illustrated Table Tennis Manual by the Two-Time World Singles Champion

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Table Tennis Complete: For beginners or advanced players with stroke play and strategy for both the pimpled and sandwich bat
• Author: Johnny Leach
• Publisher: Nicholas Kaye, London
• Publication Date: 1960
• ISBN: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
• Edition Details: First published, London, 1960.
• Binding: Publisher's red cloth boards, spine printed in gilt and black with the NK publisher's device at the foot.
• Physical Format: Octavo hardcover. Illustrated with a frontispiece and half-tone action photographs within the text. 191 pages.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The red cloth boards are square and tight at the spine. Two darker rectangular patches are visible on the front board, one near the top and one lower down, which look like the marks of former tape or labels, or possibly staining. The spine lettering in gilt and black is clear.
• Interior: The pages are clean and cream coloured, with no foxing or writing visible in the leaves examined. The binding appears tight, and the half-tone photographic plates sit cleanly within the text.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The black and red pictorial jacket has photographic front and back panels, with some light surface scuffing and marks, mainly on the back panel. The flaps appear intact and the front flap carries the publisher's blurb. The jacket is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Published in London by Nicholas Kaye in 1960, Table Tennis Complete is a comprehensive instructional guide for players of every level, from the beginner to the advanced competitor. It sets out stroke play and strategy for both the pimpled-rubber and the sandwich bat, the two competing styles of the day.

The text is richly illustrated with action photographs, which show the strokes in sequence and make the book as useful to the eye as to the reader. The publisher's flap presents it as a thorough and clear instructional work.

Its author, Johnny Leach, wrote from the authority of a world champion. The book belongs to the golden age of British table tennis writing and appeals to collectors of sporting literature and of the history of the game.

Author Profile: Johnny Leach

Johnny Leach (1922-2014) was a British table tennis player, coach and author. He won the World Championship men's singles title in 1949 in Stockholm and again in 1951 in Vienna, and was a member of the winning men's team in 1953 in Bucharest.

Away from the table he wrote a column for the News of the World for about twenty years and worked as a BBC and ITV table tennis commentator. He received the MBE and was inducted into the ITTF Hall of Fame in 1997. His other books include Table Tennis For All (1951), Table Tennis My Way (1955), and Table Tennis for the 'Seventies and Table Tennis Made Easy (both 1971).