Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present - Hardcover

9780195131956: Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195131959 ISBN 13: 9780195131956

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1999

Spanning the wide world of sports, this volume is packed with everything you could possibly want to know about hundreds of sports. Along with detailed information on how sports are played around the world, the Encyclopedia of World Sport explores emotions and issues surrounding the sporting life and looks at sport as an essential part of the human experience. Readers will find fascinating entries on baseball and badminton, tennis and takraw, as well as on an incredible range of activities played around the globe from ancient times up to the present. Lucid and authoritative, this work--called "the newest sporting bible" by The Times of London--covers every Olympic sport, obscure activities such as buzkashi and jousting, and indigenous games in dozens of nations.
In addition to its coverage of individual sports, the Encyclopedia examines the history and evolution of sport as a societal institution as well as the events and influences shaping the contemporary sporting world. Entries provide unique coverage of aggression, ethics, sports psychology, media, law and medicine, the development of women's sports, and the business and politics of modern sport. The Encyclopedia of World Sport is the definitive reference on the history, practice, and culture of sports throughout the world.

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Review:

You name it--from acrobatics to yachting, with stuff like boomerang throwing, gymkhana, jousting, korfball, and wushu in between--if it's a sport, it's in here. Of course, this thoroughly comprehensive and sophisticated reference is far more than a hymn to arcane competitions; the majors--baseball, football, basketball, soccer, tennis, and golf--all receive thoughtful and extensive treatment. Still, it's the breadth of the Encyclopedia of World Sport that turns a fascinating reference for the sports-curious and sports-obsessed into a truly staggering one.

Within each sport (more than 200 make the cut), individual entries vary in length and depth depending on popularity and/or importance, and for the major sports they are quite extensive. Yet most entries provide some information about history, rules, and cultural influences. Some even offer rudiments of how the games are played, though the "Encyclopedia" is certainly no how-to manual. Most importantly, the volume seeks to grasp the larger picture and import of games and competitions around the world; with entries on aggression, drug testing, law, ethics, media, environment, commercialization, spectators, literature, and even movies, it's a volume assembled to appeal as much to those interested in thinking about sports as to those who play them. Most of the contributors are academics, and at times the text reflects that--and illustrations, especially of the more obscure activities, would have only helped the effort--but that's a fair price to pay for a one-volume compendium that can place the wide world of sports quite literally in your hands. --Jeff Silverman

About the Author:

About the Editors:
David Levinson is an anthropologist, editor in chief of the Encyclopedia of World Cultures, and a specialist in multicultural research. Karen Christensen is a journalist, professional reference book editor, and author of several environmental books. They both live in Massachusetts.

Editorial Board: John Bale, Keele University, UK; Alyce Cheska, University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana; Garry Chick, University of Illinois, Champaign Urbana; Allen Guttmann, Amherst College; Richard Holt, Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium; Donald G. Kyle, University of Texas, Arlington; John W. Loy, University of Otago, New Zealand; Roberta J. Park, University of California, Berkeley. Contributors include leading sports historians, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, and other scholars from around the world.

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