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Floodlights and touchlines : a history of spectator sport / Rob Steen.

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Bloomsbury, 2014.

Sports -- History.

Sports spectators.

9781408152157 (pbk.)

1408152150 (pbk.)

xii, 531 p., 8 unnumbered pages of plates : ill. ; 25 cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : it's only bats and balls (but we like it) -- The sound (and fury) of the crowd : sport and spectators -- Class wars : how spectator sport began -- Odds and sods : sport and gambling -- Ringmasters Inc : sport and governance -- The first taboo : sport and professionalism. From "gentlemen" to shamateurs ; Pride and prejudice -- Well-paid slaves : sport and players' rights -- The us syndrome : sport and internationalism -- Reluctant partners : sport and politics -- No normal sport in an abnormal society : sport and race. Disunited states ; For the common wealth -- The grass ceiling : sport and sexuality.

"Focusing on spectator sports and their accompanying issues, tracing their origins, evolution and impact, inside the lines and beyond the boundary, this book offers a thematic history of professional sport and the ingredients that magnetize the world. It tells the stories that matter: from the gladiators of Rome to the runners of Rift Valley via the innovator-missionaries of Rugby School ; from multifaceted British exports to the Americanisation of professionalism and the Indianisation of cricket. Rob Steen traces the development of the sports that capitvate the turnstile millions and the mouse-clicking masses, addressing their key themes and commonalities, from creation myths to match-fixing via race, politics, sexuality and internationalism. Insightful and revelatory, this is an entertaining exploration of spectator sports' intrinsic place in culture and how sport imitates life - and life imitates sport"--Book jacket.

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