Sport, Economy and Society in Britain 1750–1914

Concise, up-to-date survey of the sporting 'revolution', and its cultural and economic consequences.

Neil Tranter (Author)

9780521576550, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 January 1998

128 pages
21.8 x 14.2 x 0.8 cm, 0.185 kg

'Tranter has produced an important book. It should enable a wide range of teachers to introduce sports history to a cross disciplinary audience; an area of study that has often been trivialised, yet one that has been central to the fabric of British life since pre-industrialisation.' Journal of European Area Studies

This book provides a concise, up-to-date survey of one of the most dramatic changes in the cultural life of Victorian and Edwardian Britain, the radical transformation which occurred in the extent and nature of its participation in sport. Neil Tranter focuses on the issues which have attracted most interest from historians of sport and poses a number of important questions: did levels of involvement in sport increase or decrease during the initial stages of urban-industrialisation? When did the new sporting culture first emerge, and what were its principal features and the mechanisms through which it spread? What were the main aims of the participants and supporters, and to what extent were these aims achieved? The author also discusses the economic consequences of this cultural change and the examines the role of women in this sporting 'revolution' and asks why their participation was so much more restricted than that of men.

1. Author's introduction
2. Growth or decline? The initial impact of urban-industrialisation
3. The 'revolution' in sport
4. A conspiracy of the elites?
5. For health, prestige, or profit?
6. No place for women?
7. Agenda for research
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural history [HBTB]