An English Tradition? - Jonathan Duke-Evans

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Résumé :
For hundreds of years English people have claimed that fair play is at the core of their national identity. Jonathan Duke-Evans looks at the history of fair play in Britain from earliest times to the present, asking whether it is in fact a British, or alternatively an English, characteristic at all - and if so, whether fair play still matters today? In An English Tradition?, Jonathan Duke-Evans explores the origins of the idea of fair play, tracing it back to the classical world and the Dark Ages, and finding its genesis deep within England's social structure. Charting its early development through both the tales of chivalry and the stories of popular legend, the book shows how fair play manifested itself in literature, the law, the Christian religion, and the family. It examines the way in which fair play was conceived during the ages of slavery and empire, and it proposes a new account of the birth of modern sport in the encounter between age-old popular games and the Victorian cult of amateurism. Taking in the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh manifestations of fair play, Duke-Evans offers contrasts and comparisons from cultures all around the world, and suggests new perspectives on the relevance of fair play in the twenty-first century....

Biographie:
Jonathan Duke-Evans received his doctorate in history from Oxford University in 1981 with a thesis on radical political theory and practice in the early 18th century. He made his career in the Civil Service, working in the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, and the Ministry of Defence. He was awarded a Harkness Fellowship in 1989, taking a Master's degree at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. This is his first book....

Sommaire:

• Preface
• 1: Introduction: The Problem of Fair Play
• 2: What Do We Mean When We Talk About Fair Play?
• 3: Fair Play: The History of a Phrase
• 4: Classical Perspectives
• 5: Christianity and Chivalry
• 6: Fair Play in Pre-industrial Britain: Law, Politics, Religion and Class
• 7: Fair Play - The Popular Strand
• 8: The Rise of the Gentleman
• 9: The Realm Beyond England
• 10: The Great Appropriation
• 11: The Expanding Circle
• 12: The Wider World
• 13: Fair Play in the 20th Century and Beyond
• 14: Conclusion: Fair Play and the British
• Appendix 1: Quantifying the Use of 'Fair Play'
• Appendix 2: Fair Play Quotients for Teams playing 15 or more Matches at World Cup Finals, 1930 to date