An awesome festival of sporting excellence and competition, the Olympic Games have now evolved into a major international event with great cultural, political, economic and social importance.

The Olympic Games Explained is an introductory guide to the history and meaning of the four-yearly phenomenon that is the modern Olympic Games. The book provides a comprehensive overview of 'Olympism' from its Ancient Greek origins through the beginnings of the International Olympic Committee to the global Olympic Movement in the twenty-first century.

Each chapter offers a range of study...

The post-September 11th security policies of Poland, the UK, France, the US and Germany presented in this new book illustrate how and why the Atlantic community ruptured over Iraq, a result in part, it is argued, of the existence of particular national strategic cultures.

Whilst the longer term effects of Iraq for the transatlantic security agenda have yet to fully transpire, what is certain is that the EU's ambitions to become a credible security actor have been seriously questioned, as has the notion of multilateralism as an international norm, as has the function of...

Sport science can quantify many aspects of human performance but the spiritual dimensions of sports experience cannot be fully understood through measurement. However, the spiritual experience of sport - be it described as 'flow', 'transcendence' or the discovery of meaning and value - is central both to our basic motivation to take part in sports, and to achieving success.

Sport and Spirituality: An Introduction explores these human aspects of sports experience through the perspectives of sport psychology, philosophy, ethics, theology and religious studies. It...

The study of sport is often thought of simply in terms of the sport sciences. This book explains how a phenomenological approach is capable of revealing the nature and meanings of sport in ways that are beyond the reach of the sciences - and how the very concepts required by sport science stand in need of philosophical explanation. The book has a 'didactic' intention - to present and discuss ideas and tools developed in the phenomenological tradition in order to illuminate issues in sport, in a clear and straightforward manner, so as to be understandable for those without any previous...

This book provides an inter-disciplinary examination of the relationship between sport, spirituality and religion. It covers a wide-range of topics, such as prayer and sport, religious and spiritual perspectives on athletic identity and flow in sport, theological analysis of genetic performance enhancement technologies, sectarianism in Scottish football, a spiritual understanding of sport psychology consultancy in English premiership soccer and how Zen may be useful in sports performance and participation. As modern sport is often intertwined with commercial and political agendas, this...

This book contains an international collection of essays by leading philosophers of sport on the ethics and philosophy of the Olympic Games. The essays consider a range of topics including critical reflections on nationalism and internationalism within the Olympic movement, sexism in Olympic marketing and sponsorship, the preservation and corruption of Olympism, the underlying ideology of the Olympic Games, the inequalities of perception in ability and disability as it informs our understanding of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and comparisons between ancient and modern interpretations...