England's Revelry: A History of Popular Sports and Pastimes, 1660-1830

by Emma Griffin

Overview

This study looks at the relationship between popular recreations and the spaces in which they took place, and in doing so it provides a history of how England enjoyed itself during the long eighteenth century. Recreations of the period included: parish wakes and feasts; civic fairs and celebrations; football, cricket and other athletic sports; bull- and bear-baiting; and the annual celebrations of Shrove Tuesday and Guy Fawkes. Through a detailed examination of contemporary sources, Dr Griffin looks at the use of space for recreation in the streets and squares of provincial market towns, in vacant spaces found in industrialising towns and villages, and on the village greens of rural England. With its reappraisal of the impact of the industrial revolution on popular recreation, this is a fascinating study of England at play.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197263211
Publisher:	British Academy
Publication date:	10/20/2005
Series:	British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship Monographs
Pages:	310
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Emma Griffin's monograph on English popular recreation in the long eighteenth century is a welcome addition to a fascinating strain in the historical scholarship on sport....This is an engrossing and innovative work, one that adds a great deal to the historiography on British popular culture and recreation."—Catriona M. Parratt, Journal of British Studies

From the Publisher