This lively and clear survey provides a wide-ranging overview of the history of modern sports, covering such topics as: why human beings are athletes how the major modern sports came about and how they spread throughout the world with the help of enthusiastic individuals, sports organizations, the YMCA and the Olympic movement discussions of some of the most popular of the 300 modern world sports including: soccer, basketball, baseball, cricket, table tennis, tennis, Formula One racing, golf, swimming, skiing, volleyball, track and field, boxing, judo and cycling the history of both western and non-western sports in depth, as well as the increasing globalization of sports today the challenges facing the world of sports today, such as commercialization and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Sports historians and cultural studies students will all find this book gives a fascinating and invaluable insight into the world of sport through history.