A case study of deaf people's leisure in England within a wider British context and gives insights into a misunderstood, misrepresented community. It questions perceptions of deafness as a disability and shows the importance of shared leisure in community formation and how changing patterns of socialisation are affecting British society.

Martin Atherton is Retired Course Leader for British Sign Language and Deaf Studies at the University of Central Lancashire

1. Introduction
2. Defining the deaf community and deaf culture in Britain
3. The development of deaf clubs in Britain
4. Sustaining communities through shared leisure and sport
5. British Deaf News: a window on the deaf world
6. Communal deaf leisure in post-war Britain
7. Leisure and sport in north-west England since 1945
8. The leisure lives of deaf people in north-west England, 1945-95
9. Leisure in the deaf community: more than just passing the time
Select bibliography
Index