基本説明
This lively and stimulating 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.
Full Description
The British love of sport is legendary. In this lively and stimulating book Derek Birley looks at the part it played in shaping British society.
The book traces the development of sporting conventions from medieval chivalry to modern notions of sportsmanship and fair play. Particular sports from hunting and the tournament to ball-games and athletics are shown against the social background of the emerging nation. The first laws of favourite pastimes such as horse-racing, cricket and boxing were devised by the privileged for gambling purposes, but were enthusiastically followed by the lower orders for pleasure and profit.
Amongst the topics explored are the changing fortunes and fashions in field sports, 'gentlemen and players' in cricket, the public school games cult, purity in amateur rowing, the urban middle-class discovery of lawn tennis and golf, and the 'north-south divide' in football. These social issues are cross-threads in the theme of sport's influence on national identity, patriotism and imperialism in the making of Britain.
Remarkable in its scope and in its linking of sport to the changing social political scene, this is a splendidly readable history.
Contents
Rude beginnings, 43-1199 AD; "Christian service and true chivalry", 1200-1485; upward mobility, 1484-1603; princes and people, 1603-1688; politics and patrons, 1688-1756; aristocrats and entrepreneurs, 1756-1792; revolution and re-action, 1793-1815; "sporting personal", 1815-1837; Victorian dawn, 1837-51; judicious bottle-holding, 1851-1866; the missionary spirit, 1867-88.
