With the enormous popularity of sporting events on television and radio, a primary text giving an overview of British sporting development became increasingly necessary for the general reader as well as for the growing number of students studying Sport and Physical Education courses at colleges and universities. Dennis Brailsford's book has filled that gap. Moving beyond a chronological record, this account places sport within the wider context of British life, examining its social, political, financial and international implications. The roles and styles of play that have marked the varying...

The Battle of Waterloo, it was said, was won on the playing fields of Eton. In his new book, Dennis Brailsford explores how this can have been so. Here the acclaimed author of serious sporting history takes the first scholarly look at English sport from 1775 to 1815. The period from the middle of the eighteenth century to the middle of the nineteenth has been largely neglected by historians of sport, and yet it saw the establishment of all five classic horse-races, the founding of cricket's ruling body, the MCC, and not only the first recognised championship in boxing but the first...

This volume traces the rise and transformation of organized sport and its impact on social patterns and gender roles. Stressing the essential continuity of the sporting experience, the author shows the changing tempo of sport through the ages and explores the broader effects of the time element on the nature and style of sporting activities. The book covers current issues such as soccer hooliganism, government intervention in sport, and the influence of television on sport.