Description: It is often assumed that a recognisably modern sporting culture did not emerge until the eighteenth century. The plethora of physical training and games that existed before 1700 tend to fall victim to rigid historical boundaries drawn between "modern" and "pre-modern" sports. Adopting a much broader and culturally based approach, the essays in this
Review Quotes:
"From all points of view, Mallinckrodt's and Schattner's books is an essential set of studies for historians of sport and the body and in addition for social and cultural historians who have neglected the role athletic activities played in the fabric of early modern societies." - John McClelland, Ludica. Annali di storia e civiltà del gioco, 21-22, 2015-2016