Beginnings of a Commercial Sporting Culture in Britain, 1793–1850.
Material type: TextPublisher: Abingdon : Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2004Copyright date: ©2013Description: 1 online resource (271 pages)Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780754682134Subject(s): Sports -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century | Sports -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th centuryGenre/Form: Electronic books.Additional physical formats: Print version:: Beginnings of a Commercial Sporting Culture in Britain, 1793–1850DDC classification: 796/.0941/09034 LOC classification: GV605 -- .H39 2004ebOnline resources: Click to ViewCover -- Contents -- List of Figures and Tables -- Acknowledgements -- List of Abbreviations -- 1 Prologue -- 2 Genesis: A National Sporting Culture is Born -- 3 Sex, Sport and Sales: The Sporting Press -- 4 No Time for Idleness? The Law and Sport, 1793-1815 -- 5 You Can All Join In: The Law and Sport, 1816-50 -- 6 How Many Rats Can You Eat in a Minute? The Rules of Sport -- 7 Big Crowds, Big Money: Mass Entertainment Comes to Britain -- 8 Better Than Working for a Living: Professional Sportsmen … and Women -- Epilogue -- Appendix: Sources -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y.
Many historians have described early industrial Britain as a 'bleak age' where the masses possessed little time, energy or money to devote to sport. Adrian Harvey reveals a very different picture of Britain at this time to show a rich, diverse and commercial sporting culture accessible to almost everyone. Far from being tied to a recreational calendar that was dependent upon established, traditional holidays, sporting events occurred within their own leisure timetable. Indeed, by the 1840s, it was common for sporting events to be conducted on a regular basis every week. The public perception of sporting activity changed dramatically, however, when the influx of money heightened the opportunities for corruption and crime.This is the first in-depth study of sporting culture in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth century that is based upon sporting periodicals, newspapers and sporting archives. Harvey depicts a society that is not suffering from a severe attack on recreations by commerce, industry and government, but one in which the principal problems experienced stemmed from criminal activity. As such, this book provides a much-needed revision of many misconceptions about the early history of sport in Britain.
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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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