Sport and the Military

Tony Mason is Professor Emeritus at the International Centre for Sport History and Culture at De Montfort University, Leicester. Eliza Riedi is Lecturer in Imperial History at the University of Leicester.

• Introduction; 1. The growth of service sport, 1880–1914; 2. Officer sports and their critics, 1880–1914; 3. Sport in the great war; 4. The amateur era, 1919–39; 5. Soldiers, sailors and civilians; 6. A different kind of war; 7. The National Service years: the summit of military sport?; Conclusion.

'This study of the sporting life of British soldiers is a major contribution to our understanding of British popular culture. With massive research and a sure touch, Mason and Riedi have brought military history and social history together in a fruitful and illuminating book, laced with humour and affection for sport and for the men who lived through and for it.' Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History, Yale University