Description
Book SynopsisThe history of fair play in Britain from earliest times to the present, asking whether it is in fact a British, or alternatively an English, characteristic at all - and if so, whether fair play still matters today?
Trade Reviewwhat Duke-Evans shows with an impressive mass of evidence is that ... 'fair play' really has had a unique influence on how Britons think of themselves * Sam Leith, Sunday Times *
a pleasant surprise ... ambitious and wide-ranging * Robert Tombs, The Daily Telegraph *
Rigorous and personable, fluently navigating potentially dry or finicky subject matter * Henry Hitchings, The Times *
An original, scholarly and extremely readable history of what is often regarded, by the English anyway, as an essential attribute of their national character * Sir Keith Thomas, author ofReligion and the Decline of Magic *
The book is leavened throughout with the lightness of touch and wry humour of an escaped academic and career civil servant; it succeeds in every respect. * Patrick Nash, Catholic Herald *
Table of ContentsPreface 1: Introduction: The Problem of Fair Play 2: What Do We Mean When We Talk About Fair Play? 3: Fair Play: The History of a Phrase 4: Classical Perspectives 5: Christianity and Chivalry 6: Fair Play in Pre-industrial Britain: Law, Politics, Religion and Class 7: Fair Play - The Popular Strand 8: The Rise of the Gentleman 9: The Realm Beyond England 10: The Great Appropriation 11: The Expanding Circle 12: The Wider World 13: Fair Play in the 20th Century and Beyond 14: Conclusion: Fair Play and the British Appendix 1: Quantifying the Use of 'Fair Play' Appendix 2: Fair Play Quotients for Teams playing 15 or more Matches at World Cup Finals, 1930 to date
