
Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date.
For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now.
Overview
"Why do we play ball?"
From Mexican jungles to the small-town gridirons of Ohio, frommedieval villages and royal courts to modern soccer pitches andbaseball parks, The Ball explores the little-known origins ofour favorite sports across the centuries, and traces how a simpleinvention like the ball has come to stake an unrivaled claim on ourpassions, our money, and our lives. Equal parts history and travelogue,The Ball removes us from the scandals and commercialism of today'ssports world to uncover the true reasons we play ball, helping us reclaimour universal connection to the games we love.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780061881794 |
---|---|
Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
Publication date: | 05/15/2012 |
Series: | P.S. Series |
Edition description: | Original |
Pages: | 400 |
Product dimensions: | 5.40(w) x 7.82(h) x 0.96(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Prologue: Warm-up 1
1 Play Ball 13
2 From Skirmish to Scrum 48
3 Advantage, King 80
4 Sudden Death in the New World 112
5 The Creator's Game 141
6 Home, with Joy 174
7 Played in America 216
8 Nothing New Under the Sun 267
Epilogue: Back to Basics 317
Acknowledgments 329
Notes 333
Selected Bibliography 347
Illustration Credits 355
Index 359
What People are Saying About This
“Anybody who has ever thrown, caught, bounced, hit (or whiffed) a ball will mightilyenjoy John Fox’s stories of where all these balls came from, and why, from our earliestdays, they have been such an integral part of the very fun that makes us human.”
“John Fox is equal parts historian, anthropologist, world traveler, sports nut, and storyteller. The Ball is a fascinating exploration not just of the games we play but why we play them—of what our ballgames tell us about ourselves.”
“[In THE BALL], a realm of behavior that we take for granted is seen anew in all of its original strangeness. The ball itself—whether made of grass and beeswax, opossum pelts, kangaroo scrotums or seal hides—is depicted freshly as an extraordinary invention of human happiness.”
Videos
