Sports History

A welter of searchable online databases can help scholars find their way through the increasing store of published sports history research. Still, a need exists for comprehensive, edited anthologies to assist researchers by pointing to influential works in the field. Eminent sports historians Mark Dyreson and Wray Vamplew provide such a guide in their four-volume collection of readings, “Sports History: Issues, Debates and Challenges”. By assembling these key articles, however, the editors have done more than that – they have also curated a collection that charts and reflects the major developments in sports history, reflecting the myriad approaches, questions, perspectives, debates and ‘turns’ in the sub-discipline. Keep this one handy.

This four-volume set is a judicious selection and an essential reference for research and teaching about sports history. It has been assembled by two of our finest sports historians to provide the foundational scholarship and the key controversies in sports history and historiography. It will be of lasting value to scholars and students.

This well set-out collection of readings provides the definitive guide to the major issues, debates and challenges that have engulfed sport history scholarship over the last six decades. Drawn from a wide variety of pre-eminent journals and a host of seminal books, the items are arranged under intuitive sub-headings that allow the reader to either read systematically or to browse on a special topic of interest. At first glance the list of contributors reads like a who’s who of the discipline, but on closer examination it is clear that the views of venerated academics are counter-pointed by the work of emerging young scholars from around the world. This makes the collection much more than a dry compendium. The compilation is, in fact, an animated, challenging and enlightening dialogue about ‘doing sports history’.

This four volume work with papers from well-known academics will be a major contribution to the international field of sport history. It not only covers various time periods, movement cultures and groups but also focuses on theoretical and archival backgrounds, and unusual topics such as emotions and eroticism, international relations or sport history as public consumption. Through this wide approach it differs from other publications, and shows a very innovative character.

Vamplew and Dyreson expertly clearly demonstrate that the sport history world is one of plurality. They use material, drawn from publications across the globe, to show that there are different approaches, perspectives and interpretations. These volumes are essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the nature and development of the subject.