Routledge Handbook of Tennis: History, Culture and Politics

Tennis is one of the world’s most popular sports, as levels of participation and spectatorship demonstrate. Moreover, tennis has always been one of the world’s most significant sports, expressing crucial fractures of social class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity - both on and off court.

This is the first book to undertake a survey of the historical and socio-cultural sweep of tennis, exploring key themes from governance, development and social inclusion to national identity and the role of the media. It is presented in three parts: historical developments; culture and representations; and politics and social issues, and features contributions by leading tennis scholars from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

The most authoritative book published to date on the history, culture and politics of tennis, this is an essential reference for any course or program examining the history, sociology, politics or culture of sport.

Robert J. Lake(Editor) is Instructor in the Department of Sport Science at Douglas College, Canada. He has written on numerous socio-historical aspects of tennis including social class, gender, national identity, media, coaching and talent development policy. His first book A Social History of Tennis in Britain (Routledge, 2015) won the Lord Aberdare Literary Prize in 2016 awarded by the British Society of Sports History.

Carol A. Osborne (Assistant Editor) is Senior Lecturer in Sport and Social Sciences at Leeds Beckett University, UK. Her research focuses on women in sports history and gender relations in sport. She sat on the executive committee of the British Society of Sports History (BSSH) 2007-17 and has worked as an independent History Consultant with the UK-based Sporting Heritage CIC.