This lively and clear survey provides a wide-ranging overview of the history of modern sports, covering such topics as:

• why human beings are athletes
• how the major modern sports came about and how they spread throughout the world with the help of enthusiastic individuals, sports organizations, the YMCA and the Olympic movement
• discussions of some of the most popular of the 300 modern world sports including: soccer, basketball, baseball, cricket, table tennis, tennis, Formula One racing, golf, swimming, skiing, volleyball, track and field, boxing, judo and cycling
• the history of both western and non-western sports in depth, as well as the increasing globalization of sports today
• the challenges facing the world of sports today, such as commercialization and the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Sports historians and cultural studies students will all find this book gives a fascinating and invaluable insight into the world of sport through history.