{"product_id":"a-social-history-of-tennis-robert-lake-9780415684309","title":"A Social History of Tennis in Britain","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Lord Aberdare Literary Prize 2015- from the British Society for Sports History.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom its advent in the mid-late nineteenth century as a garden-party pastime to its development into a highly commercialised and professionalised high-performance sport, the history of tennis in Britain reflects important themes in Britain's social history. In the first comprehensive and critical account of the history of tennis in Britain, Robert Lake explains how the game's historical roots have shaped its contemporary structure, and how the history of tennis can tell us much about the history of wider British society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince its emergence as a spare-time diversion for landed elites, the dominant culture in British tennis has been one of amateurism and exclusion, with tennis sitting alongside cricket and golf as a vehicle for the reproduction of middle-class values throughout wider British society in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Consequently, the Lawn Tennis Association has been accused of a failure to promote inclusion or widen participation, despite steadfast efforts to develop talent and improve coaching practices and structures. Robert Lake examines these themes in the context of the global development of tennis and important processes of commercialisation and professional and social development that have shaped both tennis and wider society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe social history of tennis in Britain is a microcosm of late-nineteenth and twentieth-century British social history: sustained class power and class conflict; struggles for female emancipation and racial integration; the decline of empire; and, Britain's shifting relationship with America, continental Europe, and Commonwealth nations. This book is important and fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the history of sport or British social history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Robert Lake\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0415684307\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780415684309\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Routledge\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/31\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 306\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.27lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.00w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2015","brand":"Robert Lake","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48064945160447,"sku":"9780415684309","price":210.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0f35776c-c4af-46ab-b051-90184d6a7500.jpg?v=1768672094","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-social-history-of-tennis-robert-lake-9780415684309","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}