Sport and the making of Britain : International Studies in the History of Sport - Derek Birley

Sport and the making of Britain

By: Derek Birley

Paperback | 21 October 1993

At a Glance

Paperback


$51.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $12.94 with

 or 

Ships in 7 to 10 business days

British enthusiasm for sport is legendary. This book looks at some of the myths and realities surrounding that legend and aims to chronicle how sporting traditions were shaped and how they in turn contributed to the shaping of British social conventions and attitudes. Tracing sporting history from its earliest origins, Derek Birley emphasizes how sport served vastly different functions from the modern notion of a leisure time relief from work. The book begins by examining hunting and the ritualized physical encounters once practised for the purposes of survivial and preparation for warfare. The author then describes how social conventions gradually came to govern the development of sport with an aristocratic, privileged circle forming exclusive regulations. It was from this circle of concepts of "fayre lawe" and, eventually, sportsmanship emanated and the laws of the major sports evolved. However, discriminatory game laws could not prevent the eventual widening of sporting activity, although sport always remained stratified.The author examines this elaborate stratification in his coverage of such phenomena as the exclusiveness of field sports, the public school influence on football and rowing, the urban middle-class vogues for croquet, badminton and lawn tennis and the reverence for cricket. These social issues are cross threads in the theme of sport's influence on national identity, patriotism and empire-building in the creation of an imperfectly united but highly distinctive kingdom. This book is intended for general readers and students of social and sports history.

More in Popular Culture

PIX : The Magazine that told Australia's Story - Margot Riley

RRP $59.99

$49.95

17%
OFF
The Uncool - Cameron Crowe

Paperback

RRP $36.99

$29.75

20%
OFF
Taylor Swift : Unofficial Search and Find Biographies - Gus Morais
Pusheen Mini Nesting Dolls : Rp Minis - Claire Belton

RRP $22.99

$20.75

10%
OFF
Looking After Your Books - Francesca Galligan

RRP $34.99

$29.99

14%
OFF
All About Love : New Visions - bell hooks

RRP $27.99

$23.75

15%
OFF
Desert Dreams : The Music, Style, and Allure of Coachella - Katie Bain
Not Now, Not Ever : Ten years on from the misogyny speech - Julia Gillard
All About Love : New Visions [Deluxe Collector's Edition] - Bell Hooks
Never Understood : The Jesus and Mary Chain - William Reid

RRP $24.99

$21.75

13%
OFF
New Year's Eve Mini Ball Drop : With Lights & Music! - Mollie Thomas

RRP $29.99

$24.99

17%
OFF