A Taste for Diversions

Description

The Battle of Waterloo, it was said, was won on the playing fields of Eton. In A Taste for Diversions: Sport in Georgian England, Dennis Brailsford explores how this can have been so. An acclaimed author of sporting history, Brailsford was the first to make a scholarly exploration of English sport from 1775 to 1815. The period between the mid-eighteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries had been largely neglected by historians of sport, and yet this era saw the establishment of all five classic horse-races, the founding of cricket’s ruling body, the MCC and not only the first recognised championship in boxing but also the first transatlantic challenger for the title.

Now scholars recognise the significance of these years for our sporting inheritance, its place in and impact on society both in Britain and in many of the outposts of the Empire. Dr Brailsford provided an essential text for academics and general readers alike.