Providing a social, economic and political study of field sports and those other activities and customs labelled as rural sports, from the earliest of times to the present day in all of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
This book brings together several distinct types of traditional rural sports with particular emphasis on the social history and 'traditional' aspects. It contains several hundred entries focusing on individual sports and others providing analysis of key concepts, themes and terminologies.
The Encyclopedia of Traditional British Rural Sports is an invaluable reference...

Since it's first publication, Rugby's Great Split has established itself as a classic in the field of sport history. Drawing on an unprecedented range of sources, this deeply researched and highly readable book traces the social, cultural and economic divisions that led, in 1895, to schism in the game of rugby and the creation of rugby league, the sport of England's northern working class.

Tony Collins' analysis challenges many of the conventional assumptions about this key event in rugby history - about class conflict, amateurism in sport, the North-South divide, violence...

This classic sport history title explores rugby in late Victorian and Edwardian England and examines how class conflict tore rugby apart and led to the creation of rugby league. At its heart is an explanation of how a game for public schoolboys was transformed into a sport which became entirely identified with the working classes of northern England. This text deals with the development of amateurism and professionalism, England's north-south divide, the relationship between rugby and masculinity, and the rise of commercialized sport. It focuses on how working-class men and women became...

• Why are the Olympic Games the driving force behind a clampdown on civil liberties?
• What makes sport an unwavering ally of nationalism and militarism?
• Is sport the new opiate of the masses?

These and many other questions are answered in this new radical history of sport by leading historian of sport and society, Professor Tony Collins.

Tracing the history of modern sport from its origins in the burgeoning capitalist economy of mid-eighteenth century England to the globalised corporate sport of today, the book argues that, far from the purity of...

This is a social, economic and political study of both field sports and those other activities and customs labelled as rural sports from the earliest of times to the present day in all of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Published to mark the career of one of sports history's pioneers, this book traces the evolution of sport across three continents. It brings together some of sports history's leading scholars to investigate not only the history of sport but also how that history is written. This Festschrift marks the retirement of Professor Wray Vamplew - an internationally-renowned leader in the field of sports history. His 1976 book The Turf was one of the very first academic histories of sport and he has been a prolific writer, scholar and teacher for almost forty years. No one has played such an important...

A unique insight into the creative world of Jill McNeilly capturing some of the best examples of her art. Jill once said ' A day without sewing, painting, or even just simply sitting and thinking in my work room at the top of the house, is quite unbearable.' Jill's output over fifty years has been considerable. She has created vibrant free-style embroidery on dozens of glorious quilts, wall hangings and cushions each demonstrating how you can add colour and personality to your home, and at the same time producing useful household comforts. Her innovative cloth journals demonstrate how you can...

Twenty years of professionalism has seen rugby union undergo dramatic transformations, from changes to everyday training cultures to the growth of the Rugby World Cup into one of the largest global sporting events. The Rugby World in the Professional Era is the first book to examine the effect that professionalism has had across a number of different aspects of the game and the wider socio-cultural significance of these changes through case studies from across the globe.

Drawing on contributions from scholars from across the rugby-playing world, the book explores the role...