Sport and the British: A Modern History (Oxford Studies in Social History) [Paperback]

Richard Holt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 1990 | Series: Oxford Studies in Social History

The first book of its kind, this lively history of British sport since 1800 goes beyond a few great names and moments to explain how sports have changed, what they have meant to ordinary people, and reveals what is especially distinctive about British sport in particular. The British were innovators in abandoning traditional, often brutal, sports, and in establishing a code of "fair play," which spread throughout the late Victorian Empire. They were also pioneers in popular sports and in the promotion of organized commercial spectator events, with the accompanying rise of professionalism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Worth owning just for its bibliography. The text shows that Holt has not only mastered his sources, he has turned them into something much more that the sum of their parts."--Albion

"Holt's lively and erudite book provides for both specialists and generalists an invaluable discussion of the heart of this empire....His timely synthesis of the most up-to-date research in the social history of sport is enhanced by his grasp of the varied and often-combative theoretical discussions about sport and society over the past decade; his appendix on the current state of this debate, in fact, serves as a very usseful primer for the uninitiated....Specialists in the field will find the book invaluable for its synthesis and as a foil for theoretical discussion, and anyone who studies the British in practically any way will come away from this volume with a fuller understanding of what has moved them through the past three centuries."--American Historical Review

"An important book that should attract a broad readership. This is the first time an outstanding scholar has looked at the large volume of material on sports history in Britain and synthesized it in a work that will give new insights to sports historians, new perspective to social historians, and a whole new way of looking at an important part of British culture to general readers or students.....Highly recommended for college and university libraries."--Choice

"Sport is, for once, set meticulously in the context of real life, and the book is fascinating."--The Times (London)

"Sport and the British yields a splendidly written, cleverly crafted account of the development of sporting activity among the British and their imperial subjects from Elizabethan to modern times."--Victorian Studies

About the Author

Richard Holt was Lecturer in History at the University of Stirling.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 18, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192852299
• ISBN-13: 978-0192852298
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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