"May the Best Man Win" Sport, Masculinity, and Nationalism in Great Britain and the Empire, 1880-1935

by McDevitt, P.F.

• ISBN13: 9781403965523
• ISBN10: 1403965528
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-17
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

As Britain's great power status came to be increasingly challenged in the decades before the First World War, one by-product of the resultant uncertainty was the weakening of the Victorian middle-class consensus of what constituted ideal manhood. Not only a source of wealth and power, Britain's Empire also provided alternative models of masculinity and nationhood. Consequently, the empire and the commonwealth played an important role in defining imperial gender relations in both Britain and in the colonies and dominions. "May The Best Man Win" investigates the continual re-assessment and reassertion of various masculine ideals associated with sport in the British empire between 1880 and 1935.

Author Biography

Patrick F. McDevitt is an assistant professor of history at the University at Buffalo (SUNY).

Table of Contents

Gender and Imperial Sport * Strong Men, Free Men: Gaelic Team Sports and Irish Masculinity * The King of Sports: Polo in Late Victorian and Edwardian India * May the Best White Man Win: Boxing, Race, and Masculinity * Defending White Manhood: The Bodyline Affair in England and Australia * Black Skin in White Flannel: The West Indies Join The Bodyline Fray * Conclusion