Overview
A record of the role of selected middle-class individuals across Europe who made notable contributions to the early evolution of modern sport and who saw success in modern sport as an expression of human qualities to be admired, applauded and encouraged. They viewed sport, sometimes self-interestedly but not always self-interestedly, as a medium of personal, collective and national virtue. It is the first general consideration of a selection of these innovatory pioneers and proselytisers who placed Europe at the forefront of major developments in contemporary world'sport - now a phenomenon of global significance.
Synopsis
A record of the role of selected middle-class individuals across Europe who made notable contributions to the early evolution of modern sport and who saw success in modern sport as an expression of human qualities to be admired, applauded and encouraged. They viewed sport, sometimes self-interestedly but not always self-interestedly, as a medium of personal, collective and national virtue. It is the first general consideration of a selection of these innovatory pioneers and proselytisers who placed Europe at the forefront of major developments in contemporary world sport - now a phenomenon of global significance.
Booknews
Mangan (International Research Centre for Sport, Socialisation, and Society, U. of Strathclyde, UK) presents ten chapters that look at the role of the European middle class in the evolution of modern sport in the late 19th century. Articles look at the German pedagogical promotion of physical training drawn from Antiquity, racing as a means to transfer wealth from the English upper classes to the middle classes, the relationship of British imperialism to sport, the commercial aspects of the obsession with speed and records, and the cultural diffusion of English sport to Italy. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)