As Sydney prepares to host the 2000 Olympic games, this study assesses the cultural impact of sport on the Australasian countries. Here, as in other parts of the world, sport is taken as an assertion of both individual and group identity, a demonstration of modernity and a source of personal, local and regional esteem. This collection explores the political, social and aesthetic influence of modern sport, attitudes to the body and the evolution of specific Australasian visions of sport.

This is the first single-volume book to deal comprehensively with Australia's sporting life. It covers the history of a range of individual sports in Australia, including cricket, horse-racing, netball, rowing, tennis, lawn bowls, swimming, surfing, and the various football codes. The book demonstrates the central role of sports in Australian popular culture and shows the ways in which sports reflect changing Australian society.

This book explains the nature of sport in contemporary Australia by looking at cultural influences such as economic life, politics, the media, science and education. The power relationships which consequently develop between groups in society are also discussed. The author teaches in anthropology and sociology at the University of Queensland.

There has been an explosion in the quantity of sports history literature published in recent years, making it increasingly difficult to keep abreast of developments. The annual number of publications has increased from around 250 to 1,000 a year over the last decade. This is due in part to the fact that during the late 1980s and 90s, many clubs, leagues and governing bodies of sport have celebrated their centenaries and produced histories to mark this occasion and commemorate their achievements. It is also the result of the growing popularity and realisation of the importance of sport history research within academe. This international bibliography of books, articles, conference proceedings and essays in the English language is a one-stop for the sports historian to know what is new.

Australians are often said to be obsessed with sport, and playing and watching sport have long been regarded as national pastimes. This book is an innovative and exciting study of the political, economic, social, and cultural role that sport has played in Australia since European settlement.

Orwell was wrong. Sports are not "war without the shooting", nor are they "war by other means." To be sure sports have generated animosity throughout human history, but they also require rules to which the participants agree to abide before the contest. Among other things, those rules are supposed to limit violence, even death. More than anything else, sports have been a significant part of a historical "civilizing process." They are the opposite of war. As the historical profession has taken its cultural turn over the last few decades, scholars have turned their attention to subject once seen as marginal. As researchers have come to understand the centrality of the human body in human history, they have come to study this most corporeal of human activities. Taking early cues from physical educators and kinesiologists, historians have been exploring sports in all their forms in order to help us answer the most fundamental questions to which scholars have devoted their lives. We have now seen a veritable explosion excellent work on this subject, just as sports have assumed an even greater share of a globalizing world's cultural, political and economic space. Practiced by millions and watched by billions, sports provide an enormous share of content on the Internet. This volume combines the efforts of sports historians with essays by historians whose careers have been devoted to more traditional topics. We want to show how sports have evolved from ancient societies to the world we inhabit today. Our goal is to introduce those from outside this sub-field to this burgeoning body of scholarship. At the same time, we hope here to show those who may want to study sport with rigor and nuance how to embark on a rewarding journey and tackle profound matters that have affected and will affect all of humankind.