Description: A passport to the many nations, sports stars, and sports across the globe
Brief description: Maureen M. Smith is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Sacramento State University. She is coauthor of Fundamentals of Sociology of Sport and Physical Activity and (Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolph.
Review Quotes: More than Cricket and Football tackles contemporary preoccupations with sporting celebrities head-on. Present-day demands that professional athletes perform as role models for wider society are subjected to scholarly scrutiny. Over a dozen cogent case studies explore key twentieth-century individuals who came to represent something larger than themselves, especially off the field of play. Each contributor demonstrates their love of sport and scholarly erudition in equal measure. Building on the biographical, the reception of various sports stars in differing international and global contexts is also subject to a thorough investigation, making this volume essential reading.--Graham Barnfield, senior lecturer in journalism at the University of East London