Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present

Spanning the wide world of sports, this volume is packed with everything you could possibly want to know about hundreds of sports. Along with detailed information on how sports are played around the world, the Encyclopedia of World Sport explores emotions and issues surrounding the sporting life and looks at sport as an essential part of the human experience. Readers will find fascinating entries on baseball and badminton, tennis and takraw, as well as on an incredible range of activities played around the globe from ancient times up to the present. Lucid and authoritative, this work--called "the newest sporting bible" by The Times of London--covers every Olympic sport, obscure activities such as buzkashi and jousting, and indigenous games in dozens of nations.
In addition to its coverage of individual sports, the Encyclopedia examines the history and evolution of sport as a societal institution as well as the events and influences shaping the contemporary sporting world. Entries provide unique coverage of aggression, ethics, sports psychology, media, law and medicine, the development of women's sports, and the business and politics of modern sport. The Encyclopedia of World Sport is the definitive reference on the history, practice, and culture of sports throughout the world.