The Victorians and Sport

Description

Many of the sports that have spread across the world, from athletics and boxing to golf and tennis, had their origins in nineteenth-century Britain. They were exported around the world by the British Empire, and Britain's influence in the world led to many of its sports being adopted in other countries. (Americans, however, liked to show their independence by rejecting cricket for baseball.) The Victorians and Sport is a highly readable account of the role sport played in both Victorian Britain and its empire. Major sports attracted mass followings and were widely reported in the press. Great sporting celebrities, such as the cricketer Dr W.G. Grace, were the best-known people in the country, and sporting rivalries provoked strong loyalties and passionate emotions. Mike Huggins provides fascinating details of individual sports and sportsmen. He also shows how sport was an important part of society and of many people's lives.

Mike Huggins is Emeritus Professor of Cultural History at the University of Cumbria. His many books include, most recently, Horse Racing and British Society in the Long Eighteenth Century (Boydell, 2018) and the edited collection, with Rob Hess, Match Fixing and Sport: Historical Perspectives (Routledge, 2019).

Written with authority, based on an astonishing volume and variety of source material, and with enthusiasm that can easily infect the reader. * Economic History Review * [I]t has much value as an introduction to the basic themes that historians of sport have explored. * The International History Review * Huggins's great strength in this book is to bring order to detail. He shows us sport through social class, as well as its importance to the individual ... in a methodical and generally satisfying manner...many more should gain a valuable sense of how their chosen specialty fits ... The Victorians and Sport will make for a great start. * James W. Martens *