This volume emphasizes the positive aspects of sports and how they affect and are affected by the mores, values, and general culture of a nation. Ranging widely in its scope, this sociological exploration moves from violence, gender, race, religion and economics, to the role of sports in high school and college life. American sports receive the fullest treatment, but the authors do not neglect the international aspects of sport in this student-friendly study. Also included in this title is a brief history of sports from antiquity to the present.