Disputed Pleasures: Sport and Society in Preindustrial England

(Hardback)

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This work explores the development of English sport during the eight centuries preceding the industrial era. Focusing on outdoor activities that involved intergroup competitioon among adults, Thomas Henricks demonstrates that sport was a sophisticated and "rational" experience, connected to society in many subtle yet important ways. Accessible to readers in many disciplines and on many levels, the book charts the changes in sport preceding the modern era, serves as an introduction to the historical literature on English sport, traces the relationship between sport and shifting social patterns, and develops an original thesis of sport as an identity ceremony for its participants. The work begins with a detailed introduction to English sport and the historians, and continues with Henrick's thesis of sporting events as identity ceremonies. The next of five chapters trace the development of sport and society through five periods of English history: the feudal society of the early Middle Ages; the decay of feudalism and the later Middle Ages; the centralized administration and middle-class appeal of the Tudor era; the elitist nostalgia and French influence of the Stuart era, followed by the Puritan Revolution; and the celebration of private property and mixture of snobbery and social mingling of Georgian England. Each chapter is organized in a similar manner, beginning with a brief introduction to the social life of the times, folllowed by presentations of patterns within individual sports and a summary of dominant themes in sport during that era. A concluding chapter considers some sociological aspects of sport and society.

Reviews

One closes the volume impressed by its scope and planning, at once broad and concise, and by the good sense of the author. It can be thoroughly recommended for students and scholars will find it an invaluable help with the study of this lengthy period, in which there is still so much to be found and said.-International Journal of History & Sport
"One closes the volume impressed by its scope and planning, at once broad and concise, and by the good sense of the author. It can be thoroughly recommended for students and scholars will find it an invaluable help with the study of this lengthy period, in which there is still so much to be found and said."-International Journal of History & Sport

Author Bio

THOMAS S. HENRICKS is Professor of Sociology at Elon College in North Carolina. Specializing in the sociology of sport and popular culture, he is the author of numerous articles and reviews.