Sport Italia

The Italian Love Affair with Sport

Nonfiction, History, Italy, Sports, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Sociology
Cover of the book Sport Italia by Simon Martin, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Simon Martin ISBN: 9780857730602
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: July 30, 2011
Imprint: I.B. Tauris Language: English
Author: Simon Martin
ISBN: 9780857730602
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: July 30, 2011
Imprint: I.B. Tauris
Language: English

The Italian love affair with sport is passionate, voracious, all-consuming. It provides a backdrop and a narrative to almost every aspect of daily life in Italy and the distinctively pink-coloured newspaper 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' is devoured by over three million hungry readers every day.

Narrating the history of modern Italy through its national passion for sport, Sport Italia is a completely new portrayal of one of Europe's most fascinating and chaotic countries. Uncovering the role of major and minor sports in its social, economic and political modernization, Simon Martin connects the politics of each period with the sporting issues, personalities, heroes and villains that have shaped Italy's development. Questioning why sport is so important in Italy, he sheds light on the stereotype of a nation obsessed by football, fights, fast cars and fast women, while showing its broader contribution to mass popular culture, through film, tourism, the Ferrari and the Vespa.

Following the highs and lows of the nation's history, from Liberal Italy's sporting pioneers, to Mussolini, the 1960 Rome Olympics and the Berlusconi era, Sport Italia's marathon journey uncovers heroic defeats, national triumphs, canonised cyclists and sporting Popes, along with the drug dealers, fraudsters, terrorists and politicians that have tarnished its name.

The one thing capable of uniting Italians, sport is also revealed as one of the nation's greatest sources of division: one that has probed and occasionally widened the deep fractures within its identity. Tracing how sport became a pillar of Italian society and a political football in its own right that has changed the face of Italy, Sport Italia reveals a novel and previously unexplored element of the history of a society and its state, which will be an essential read for sports fans, historians and students alike.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Italian love affair with sport is passionate, voracious, all-consuming. It provides a backdrop and a narrative to almost every aspect of daily life in Italy and the distinctively pink-coloured newspaper 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' is devoured by over three million hungry readers every day.

Narrating the history of modern Italy through its national passion for sport, Sport Italia is a completely new portrayal of one of Europe's most fascinating and chaotic countries. Uncovering the role of major and minor sports in its social, economic and political modernization, Simon Martin connects the politics of each period with the sporting issues, personalities, heroes and villains that have shaped Italy's development. Questioning why sport is so important in Italy, he sheds light on the stereotype of a nation obsessed by football, fights, fast cars and fast women, while showing its broader contribution to mass popular culture, through film, tourism, the Ferrari and the Vespa.

Following the highs and lows of the nation's history, from Liberal Italy's sporting pioneers, to Mussolini, the 1960 Rome Olympics and the Berlusconi era, Sport Italia's marathon journey uncovers heroic defeats, national triumphs, canonised cyclists and sporting Popes, along with the drug dealers, fraudsters, terrorists and politicians that have tarnished its name.

The one thing capable of uniting Italians, sport is also revealed as one of the nation's greatest sources of division: one that has probed and occasionally widened the deep fractures within its identity. Tracing how sport became a pillar of Italian society and a political football in its own right that has changed the face of Italy, Sport Italia reveals a novel and previously unexplored element of the history of a society and its state, which will be an essential read for sports fans, historians and students alike.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Culture and Society in France 1789-1848 by Simon Martin
Cover of the book US Navy Battleships 1886–98 by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Streetcars of America by Simon Martin
Cover of the book The Everyday Cold War by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Are You There, God? It's Me. Kevin. by Simon Martin
Cover of the book The Age of Orphans by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Narrative Theory and Adaptation. by Simon Martin
Cover of the book 100 Ideas for Supporting Pupils with Dyslexia by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Cases, Materials and Text on National, Supranational and International Non-Discrimination Law by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Yachting Monthly's Further Confessions by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Rommel's Afrika Korps by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Shameful Bodies by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Stepbrother: The Game He Plays by Simon Martin
Cover of the book The Islands of the Eastern Mediterranean by Simon Martin
Cover of the book Sixpenny Stalls by Simon Martin
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy