Sport and the British

Richard Holt was Lecturer in History at the University of Stirling.

Rightly lauded in hardback a year ago, this affordable paperback edition places sport within the context not just of British history but of the people's history.

• List of Plates; Abbreviations; Introduction; I. OLD WAYS OF PLAYING; 1. Before the Victorians; 2. Cruelty and Sloth: The Abolitionists; 3. Field Sports and the Decline of Paternalism; 4. Survival and Adaptation; II. AMATEURISM AND THE VICTORIANS; 1. Public Schools; 2. The Body in Victorian Culture; 3. The Age of the `Gentleman Amateur'; 4. Female Sport and Suburbia; III. LIVING IN THE CITY: WORKING-CLASS COMMUNITIES; 1. Rational Recreation; 2. The Life of the Street; 3. Spectating and Civic Pride; 4. Gambling, Animals, and Pub Sports; 5. Flight from the City; IV. EMPIRE AND NATIONS; 1. Colonial Elites; 2. The Imperial Idea and `Native' Sport; 3. Dominian Culture and the `Mother Country'; 4. Celtic Nationalism: Ireland, Wales, and Scotland; 5. Enlishness and Britishness; V. COMMERCIALISM AND VIOLENCE; 1. Shareholders and Professionals; 2. Press, Television, and Profit; 3. Hooligans; VI. CONCLUSION; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.