This book describes how the field of sports history has matured dramatically over the past decade, and expands on what this means for sports historians today. The specially commissioned essays, addressing a range of thematic and regional contexts that make up this companion make it a uniquely valuable resource.

John Nauright is Director of the Academy of International Sport and Professor in the School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism at George Mason University, Virginia. He is also Visiting Professor of Sports Studies in the Department of Sports Science at Aarhus University, Denmark.

S. W. Pope is Director of the International Center for Performance Excellence at West Virginia University. During 2003 he was a Leverhulme Research Fellow at the International Centre for Sport History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester and was Senior Lecturer of American history at the University of Lincoln between 2004-2008. He received a PhD (history) from the University of Maine in 1993.

Theory, Methods, and Key Themes in Sports History Introduction: The Field of Sports History Around the World Chapter 1: Theory Chapter 2: Sources Chapter 3: The City Chapter 4: Borderlands Chapter 5: Marxism Chapter 6: Sociology Chapter 7: Origins Chapter 8: Gender Chapter 9: Race Chapter 10: Bodies Chapter 11: Science and Technology Chapter 12: Entrepreneurship Chapter 13: Religion Chapter 14: Imperialism Chapter 15: International Relations Chapter 16: Nationalism Sports History Around the World Chapter 17: Africa (Sub-Saharan) Chapter 18: Australia Chapter 19: Belgium and the Netherlands Chapter 20: Canada Chapter 21: The Caribbean Chapter 22: China Chapter 23: Central and Eastern Europe Chapter 24: France Chapter 25: Germany Chapter 26: Great Britain Chapter 27: Ireland Chapter 28: Japan Chapter 29: Middle East and North Africa Chapter 30: Mexico and Central America Chapter 31: New Zealand (Aotearoa) Chapter 32: Nordic Countries Chapter 33: Russia/Soviet Union Chapter 34: South America Chapter 35: South Asia Chapter 36: South East Asia Chapter 37: The United States of America