Acclaimed as a magisterial, classic work, A Social History of English Cricket is an encyclopaedic survey of the game, from its humble origins all the way to modern floodlit finishes. But it is also the story of English culture, mirrored in a sport that has always been a complex repository of our manners, hierarchies and politics. Derek Birley's survey of the impact on cricket of two world wars, Empire and 'the English caste system', will, contends Ian Wooldridge, 'teach an intelligent child of twelve more about their heritage than he or she will ever pick up at school.'

In just under 400 pages Birley takes us through a rich historical tapestry: how the game was snatched from rustic obscurity by gentlemanly gamblers; became the height of late eighteenth century metropolitan fashion; was turned into both symbol and synonym for British imperialism; and its more recent struggle to dislodge the discomforting social values preserved in the game from its imperial heyday.

Superbly witty and humorous, peopled by larger-than-life characters from Denis Compton to Ian Botham, and wholly forswearing nostalgia, A Social History of English Cricket is a tour-de-force by one of the great writers on cricket.

• We started tracking this book on June 11, 2012.
• This book was £6.86 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 74 times in the past 4,645 days.
• The current price of this book is £6.39 last checked 3 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past year.
• The lowest price to date was £2.49 last reached on April 30, 2013.
• This book has been £2.49 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was £11.40 last reached on April 29, 2015.
• This book has been £11.40 one time since we started tracking it.

• SportOther Ball SportsHistory of Sports
• SportOther Ball SportsSociology of Sports
• SportCricket

• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 585 Pages
• File Size: 10 KB