From Ritual to Record

Reviews / Votes

A pioneering work in a field remarkably little touched... For any future writer about the philosophy or the sociology of sport in general, this book will be required reading. -- Julian Symons Times Literary Supplement The chief advantage that Guttmann has over other sports theoreticians is a willingness to employ the techniques of modern rhetoric in creating some order out of the ideological confusion now swirling around his subject. He is a definer, a synthesizer, a causal analyst, as well as an arguer and a counter-arguer. Virginia Quarterly [Guttmann's] lucid, original, stimulating, blessedly jargon-free book does something to lighten our darkness. His pleasant, incisive style reflects a mind uncluttered by prejudice or ideology. -- Brian Glanville London Sunday Times