In his previous books Allen Guttmann has provided incisive perspectives on Avery Brundage's role in the Olympic movement and on the nature of modern sports. Now, in his latest book, the accomplished historian of sport turns his attention from the playing field to the grandstand. Sports Spectators, the first historical study of the subject from antiquity to today, is at once erudite and entertaining; comprehensive and succint.

Guttmann first examines the history of sports spectators, starting with Ancient Greece and Rome. He then moves on to the Renaissance and traces three early...

This study traces the development of women's sports from antiquity to the present. Beginning with a discussion of women's sports in ancient civilizations, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, it narrates the history of women in sports, focusing on the role of women's athletics in a cultural and social context. It then relates how modern sports developed.

From Greek athletic competitions to the cult of body-building at Gold's Gym, this text examines literature, art, television, and movies to uncover a vast array of evidence that cultures across the ages have reflected at length, in celebration and censure, on the erotic nature of sports.

Originally published in 1978, From Ritual to Record was one of the first books to recognize the importance of sports as a lens on the fundamental structure of societies. In this reissue, Guttmann emphasizes the many ways that modern sports, dramatically different from the sports of previous eras, have profoundly shaped contemporary life.

In a thoroughly revised and updated study, the author of Women's Sports and Games and Empires traces the history of the modern Olympics from 1896 to 2000, contrasting the ideal of the game with the often politicized reality. Simultaneous. (Sports & Recreation).