Manual Of Freediving by Stefano Tovaglieri, Umberto Pelizzari (2004, Paperback, Revised)

I am still a newbie to what I would call serious apnea, although I have been snorkeling and freediving since childhood. I have not read all the major books on this subject (yet) so I won't presume to compare it to other offerings.

But I do feel comfortable in saying this is an excellent manual containing a veritable wealth of information indispensible to anyone seriously interested in this sport. It covers all aspects of free diving from history to execution, with special emphysis on physiology and the effects of freediving on the human body.
It teaches the sport in depth and how to go about practicing apnea (breath-hold diving) safely and efficiently. With an organized step by step presentation the reader is led through knowledge and theory, to surface exercises and preparation, to implementation and skill development. No aspect is ignored and safe practices are emphasized.

Perhaps the only negative I can offer is that the text can be a bit dry and text book-ish in places, particularly in the indepth coverage of the effects of depth and pressure on the body (think intro to A.& P. class). The book's chapters are well delineated and one can easily skip ahead to more active aspects when the eyes glaze over and come back to the heavy stuff. Keep 2 or 3 bookmarks in this one!

Overall the book delivers exactly what it promises, a true handbook for this exciting and growing sport. If you have access to formal training, it's a great resource; if you don't it's almost a class in book form. Highly recommended.

Easy-to-understand book with lots of info about apnea, swimming and diving technique. Recommended for both beginners and professionals.

This book is resource of info for an obscure sport. It covers history physics, anatomy & physiology, equipment techniques etc. If you are already into this sport or spearfishing & want to increase your depth or better your bottom time it may be for you. For those who read the book w/o a background in diving, medicine & actual time in the water you may "get in over your head". If you have been breath hold diving & want to improve; it may have anwsers for you. I found some info helpful, some I knew already. "Freediving is an every ounce counts sport" and info is hard to come by especialy in English. I recomend this book to the few who are looking but not to a casual browser