Jens Ljunggren is Professor of History at Stockholm University, Sweden.

“This book which does justice to Ljunggren’s impressive research. Worthy of attention … . This is an admirable study and one that could serve as a template for political histories of other countries. Finally, Palgrave Macmillan deserve praise for publishing a series of Studies in Sport and Politics. It is to Ljunggren’s credit, however, that his book is alone in the series in having the word ‘political’ … in its title.” (Alan Bairner, idrottsforum.org, September 4, 2024)

• Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Sport from above.- Chapter 3. A Swedish invention that conquered the world.- Chapter 4: The development of Swedish sport until the 1930s.- Chapter 5: The development of Swedish sport politics until the 1930s.- Chapter 6. The Social Democrats conquer sport.- Chapter 7: The golden age of sport respectability – the post-war period.- Chapter 8: The golden age of the Swedish sport model.- Chapter 9. The polarisation of sport in the post-industrial era.- Chapter 10: Sport – a political exception?