If you've ever had the sneaking suspicion that we in Britain have fundamentally different attitudes to football than every other nation - well you're probably right . . . This highly engaging book looks at how the medieval precursor of football was adopted and adapted by Victorian patriarchs anxious to develop both team ethos and sexual repression. The first was important for the preservation of empire, the second to combat the threat of masturbation. It's been downhill ever since . . .
(Clive Yelf - bwl 30 June 2005 ) |
