A01=William J. Baker
ancient
athletes
Author_William J. Baker
Category=SC
challenge
competition
competitive sport
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_sports-fitness
influencers
material
measure
Olympics
opinion
organized
Paleolithic
patrons
professional
religious ritual
spectacle
spectators
sports media
tribal
Product details
- ISBN 9780252060427
- Weight: 513g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Jul 1988
- Publisher: University of Illinois Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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"Human beings cannot live by bread alone. They dream and they strive. Not merely for warmth do they take fire from the altar of the gods; curiosity is their glory and their pain. They climb mountains, cross uncharted seas, and explore outer space for reasons other than material benefit. They thrive on challenges. Seekers of laurel, they especially measure themselves in competition with fellow humans. Where there is no contest, they create one. From deep within, and from millennia past, comes the impulse for athletic competition. This book is about the history of competitive sports in the Western world--from ancient religious ritual and simple tribal contests to highly organized modern spectacles."--From the introduction
William J. Baker is a professor emeritus of history at the University of Maine. He is the author of Jesse Owens: An American Lifeand coeditor of Sports in Modern America, Sports and the Humanities, and Sport in Africa: Essays in Social History.
