More Than a Game: A History of How Sport Made Britain
David Horspool
Nov 2023 · John Murray · Narrated by David Horspool and Ben Deery
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10 hr 50 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
The story of how the British shaped sport, and sport shaped the British.
Sport is an enduring element of British life and culture. Few other strands of Britain's history touch on so many significant aspects of past and present: national identity, class, gender, the relationship between country and town, the rise of commerce, the evolution of ethical debate. And that's apart from the on-field action - the triumphs and heartbreaks that have become part of the national narrative.
For a country so obsessed with the invention, playing and watching of sport, the story of how it has come to reflect us remains untold. More Than a Game tracks each game as a driver of social change, a vibrant expression of Britain's identity: horse-racing's obsession with blood and money turned an aristocratic pastime into a national sport; boxing promoted opportunity for ethnic minorities, while simultaneously enforcing a regime of discrimination; golf rehearsed a perennial battle over Britain's landscape; the football fan created a unique, exuberant, often troubled culture at the centre of British life; and the Empire and Commonwealth Games emerged as an unexpected response to the end of the imperial story.
The history of Britain in sport is a history of popular heroes and pantomime villains, of shared and contested passions and loyalties, of winning and losing. More Than a Game captures these iconic stories, revealing how sport has infiltrated every part of British life, from top to bottom, cementing its place as the ultimate theatre of Britain's past, and its present.
(P)2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Sport is an enduring element of British life and culture. Few other strands of Britain's history touch on so many significant aspects of past and present: national identity, class, gender, the relationship between country and town, the rise of commerce, the evolution of ethical debate. And that's apart from the on-field action - the triumphs and heartbreaks that have become part of the national narrative.
For a country so obsessed with the invention, playing and watching of sport, the story of how it has come to reflect us remains untold. More Than a Game tracks each game as a driver of social change, a vibrant expression of Britain's identity: horse-racing's obsession with blood and money turned an aristocratic pastime into a national sport; boxing promoted opportunity for ethnic minorities, while simultaneously enforcing a regime of discrimination; golf rehearsed a perennial battle over Britain's landscape; the football fan created a unique, exuberant, often troubled culture at the centre of British life; and the Empire and Commonwealth Games emerged as an unexpected response to the end of the imperial story.
The history of Britain in sport is a history of popular heroes and pantomime villains, of shared and contested passions and loyalties, of winning and losing. More Than a Game captures these iconic stories, revealing how sport has infiltrated every part of British life, from top to bottom, cementing its place as the ultimate theatre of Britain's past, and its present.
(P)2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
About the author
David Horspool is an editor on the Times Literary Supplement, responsible for history, archaeology and sport. His most recent book is Cromwell: The Protector, for the Penguin Monarchs series. He is the author of Richard III: A Ruler and his Reputation, Alfred the Great, The English Rebel: One Thousand Years of Troublemaking from the Normans to the Nineties, and a co-author, with Arthony Arnove and Colin Firth, of The People Speak: Voices that Changed Britain. He contributes to the TLS, Guardian and The Spectator, and writes a monthly history column for the Oldie magazine. He is married with two sons and lives in London.
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