Dr. Gerald Gems is one of the premier sports historians in the world. In this book, the first video text in sport history, we can see videos of how ancient and modern games have been played. But he goes beyond the sport, looking at the cultural background in which the sports have been played. We see ancient sports from China, India and the Americas and we follow the evolution of sports through the medieval days and the Renaissance and into England, the birthplace of modern sports. We then ...

One of the world's foremost sports historians, Professor Gems has written a readable, fully illustrated book on sports history. It is the first video text in the field in which the reader can see authentic reenactments of ancient sports and videos of modern sport. It is written as a textbook for college classes in sport history and for the general public who are interested in modern and ancient sport and how sport has evolved through the ages. Professor Gems has also included an interestin...

Turnen around the World represents an international effort by an assemblage of prominent sport historians to detail and assess the worldwide scope, effects, and residual influences of the German Turnen movement over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A male nationalistic movement based on gymnastics and other physical activities established in response to the Napoleonic wars became even more political in the German Revolution of 1848. Refugees, colonizers, and immigrants...

A National Bestseller!A new collection of the best Canadian trivia in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday.Just in time for Canada’s 150th birthday comes this collection of the best in Canadian questions and answers, covering history, famous Canadians, sports, word origins, geography, and everything in between. In these pages, you’ll learn the answers to questions like:Where did the word Canuck come from?How did an aristocratic ...

From the bestselling social commentator and cultural historian Barbara Ehrenreich comes a fascinating exploration of one of humanity's oldest traditions: the celebration of communal joy."Fascinating . . . An admirably lucid, level-headed history of outbreaks of joy from Dionysus to the Grateful Dead."—Terry Eagleton, The NationIn the acclaimed Blood Rites, Barbara Ehrenreich delved into the origins ...

A pioneering and beloved Canadian legend comes to lifeFather David Bauer changed lives — at the rink, in the classroom, and at the pulpit. Bauer’s dream created the first truly national Canadian hockey team. In 1963, that unique group represented Canada abroad and were committed to both country and to Father Bauer. Whether shepherding the hockey program at St. Michael’s College in Toronto or the men’s national team out of the University of British Columbia...

What can Roger Federer teach us about the secret of longevity?What do the All Blacks have in common with improvised jazz musicians?What can cognitive neuroscientists tell us about what happens to the brains of sportspeople when they perform?And why did Johan Cruyff believe that beauty was more important than winning?Matthew Syed, the 'Sports Journalist of the Year 2016', answers these questions and more in a fascinating, wide-ranging and provoc...

A revised, updated and even more Canadian edition of the classic bestseller.In 1977, The Book of Lists, the first and best compendium of facts weirder than fiction, was published. Filled with intriguing information and must-talk-about trivia it has spawned many imitators--but none as satisfying or successful. In 2005, Ira Basen and Jane Farrow brought together the most entertaining and informative of these original lists and augmented them with homegrown m...

As an institution that helps bind Canadians to an imagined community, hockey has long been associated with an essential Canadian identity. However, this reductionism ignores the ways Canadians consume hockey differently based on their socio-economic background, gender, ethnicity, and location. Moreover, Canadian culture is not static, and hockey's place in it has evolved and changed.In Coast to Coast, a wide range of contributors examine the historical development of hocke...

Anthropologist John Fox sets off on a worldwide adventure to thefarthest reaches of the globe and the deepest recesses of our ancientpast to answer a question inspired by his sports-loving son:"Why do we play ball?"From Mexican jungles to the small-town gridirons of Ohio, frommedieval villages and royal courts to modern soccer pitches andbaseball parks, The Ball explores the little-known origins ofour favorite sports across the centuries, and traces how a simpleinv...

Originally published in 1978, From Ritual to Record was one of the first books to recognize the importance of sports as a lens on the fundamental structure of societies. In this reissue, Guttmann emphasizes the many ways that modern sports, dramatically different from the sports of previous eras, have profoundly shaped contemporary life.

Passed from hand to hand, the Olympic flame has become one of the great symbols of sport. The relay from the ruins at Olympia in Greece forges a powerful bond with the Ancient Olympic Games. Using original documents, The Story of the Olympic Torch chronicles the development of the run as the first great event of the Games. It describes the symbolism as the spark is kindled from the rays of the sun in Olympia at the start of the journey. It reveals the obstacles faced by organisers in 1948 ...