TY - BOOK AU - Harvey,Adrian,Mr TI - Beginnings of a Commercial Sporting Culture in Britain, 1793–1850 SN - 9780754682134 AV - GV605 -- .H39 2004eb U1 - 796/.0941/09034 PY - 2004/// CY - Abingdon PB - Ashgate Publishing Ltd KW - Sports -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century KW - Sports -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century KW - Electronic books N1 - Cover -- 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 N2 - 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 UR - https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/buse-ebooks/detail.action?docID=429741 ER -