  The statistical distribution of the largest value drawn from a sample of a
given size has only three possible shapes: it is either a Weibull, a Fr\'echet
or a Gumbel extreme value distributions. I describe in this short review how to
relate the statistical distribution followed by the numbers in the sample to
the associate extreme value distribution followed by the largest value within
the sample. Nothing I present here is new. However, from experience, I have
found that a simple and compact guide on this matter written for the physics
community is missing.
