Dr. Gerald Gems is one of the premier sports historians in the world. In this book, the first video text in sport history, we can see videos of how ancient and modern games have been played. But he goes beyond the sport, looking at the cultural background in which the sports have been played. We see ancient sports from China, India and the Americas and we follow the evolution of sports through the medieval days and the Renaissance and into England, the birthplace of modern sports. We then ...

One of the world's foremost sports historians, Professor Gems has written a readable, fully illustrated book on sports history. It is the first video text in the field in which the reader can see authentic reenactments of ancient sports and videos of modern sport. It is written as a textbook for college classes in sport history and for the general public who are interested in modern and ancient sport and how sport has evolved through the ages. Professor Gems has also included an interestin...

Turnen around the World represents an international effort by an assemblage of prominent sport historians to detail and assess the worldwide scope, effects, and residual influences of the German Turnen movement over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A male nationalistic movement based on gymnastics and other physical activities established in response to the Napoleonic wars became even more political in the German Revolution of 1848. Refugees, colonizers, and immigrants...

Long before therapy apps and wellness culture, Americans turned to sport to steady minds unsettled by modern life.Mental Health, Gender, and the Rise of Sport examines the historical role of sport as both a mental and physical remedy during the late-nineteenth-century epidemic of neurasthenia, a debilitating neurological condition that gripped American society. Gerald R. Gems argues that the rapid expansion of organized sport and sport spectatorship coincid...

Sports in American History: From Colonization to Globalization, Third Edition, helps students grasp the compelling evolution of American sporting practices. This text examines sports history as a social and cultural phenomenon, generates a better understanding of current practices in sport, and considers future developments in American sport.This comprehensive resource explores sport through various historical periods—including premodern America, colonial times, and the mo...

This interdisciplinary case study invokes historical, sociological, and anthropological means to examine the ascendance of the United States to a world power in its first imperial venture. In the aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898 the U.S. acquired and occupied the Philippine Islands for nearly a half century in an attempt to install a democratic form of government, a capitalist economy, the Protestant religion, and a particular value system. Sport became a primary means to achi...

This study uses sociological and historical methodologies to analyze the role of sport in the formation of urban identity in Chicago. The author traces the transformation of Chicago from a frontier town to a commercial behemoth, examining its role as an immigration, transportation, and entertainment hub. The author argues that, as a pioneering leader in American sport history, Chicago allowed teams and athletes to forge a unique national and global identity. This thorough and well-research...

Sports fans have long been fascinated with boxing and the brutal demonstration of physical and psychological conflict. Accounts of the sport appear as far back as the third millennium BC, and Greek and Roman sculptors depicted the athletic ideals of the ancient era in the form of boxers. In the present day, boxers such as Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Robinson, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. are recognized throughout the world. Boxing films continue to r...

This is a fundamental text for the study of sport history.It answers the ‘why,’ ‘how,’ and ‘what’ questions, introducing the key principles and practices of sport history and walking the reader through the fascinating stories, debates, issues, and national and international narratives that constitute the history of sport.The book provides an overview of the field and the various professional roles assumed by practitioners, such as researchers, academics, and public historians. It i...

2023 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleIn Sports and Aging a wide-ranging group of physically active people, including many scholar-athletes, fifty years and older, discuss sports in the context of aging and their own athletic experiences. This collection of personal accounts includes a spectrum of contributors across genders, social classes, and racial, ethnic, national, religious, and educational backgrounds to determine whether there are any common characteristi...

Gems traces the experience of the Italian immigrant and illustrates the ways in which sports helped Italian-Americans adapt to a new culture, assert pride in an ethnic identity, and even achieve social advancement. Employing historical, sociological, and anthropological studies, Gems explores how sports were instrumental in helping notions of identity evolve from the individual to the community, from the racial to the ethnic. In doing so, Sport and the Shaping of Italian-American Ident...

Since the nineteenth century the USA has served as an international model for business, lifestyle and sporting success. Yet whilst the language of sport seems to be universal, American sports culture remains highly distinctive. Why is this so? How should we understand American sport? What can we learn about America by analyzing its sports culture?Understanding American Sports offers discussion and critical analysis of the everyday sporting and leisure activities of ‘ordina...