The field of sports history is no longer a fledgling area of study. There is a great vitality in the field and it has matured dramatically over the past decade. Reflecting changes to traditional approaches, sport historians need now to engage with contemporary debates about history, to be encouraged to position themselves and their methodologies in relation to current epistemological issues, and to promote the importance of reflecting on the literary or poetic dimensions of producing history. These contemporary developments, along with a wealth of international research from a range of theoretical perspectives, provide the backdrop to the new Routledge Companion to Sports History.

Theory, Methods, and Key Themes in Sports History Introduction: The Field of Sports History Around the World - John Nauright and S.W. Pope Chapter 1: Theory - Douglas Booth Chapter 2: Sources - Gary Osmond and Murray PhillipsChapter 3: The City - Gerald Gems Chapter 4: Borderlands - Colin Howell and Daryl Leeworthy Chapter 5: Marxism - Ian Ritchie Chapter 6: Sociology - Louise Mansfield & Dominic Malcolm Chapter 7: Origins - Donald Kyle Chapter 8: Gender - Susan Bandy Chapter 9: Race - John Nauright and David Wiggins Chapter 10: Bodies - Henning Eichberg Chapter 11: Science and Technology - Verner Møller Chapter 12: Entrepreneurship - Dilwyn Porter Chapter 13: Religion - William Baker Chapter 14: Imperialism - S.W. Pope In 22-04-09 Chapter 15: International Relations - Barbara Keys Chapter 16: Nationalism - Matti Goksøyr Sports History Around the World Chapter 17: Africa (Sub-Saharan) - John Nauright Chapter 18: Australia - Daryl Adair Chapter 19: Belgium and the Netherlands - Ruud Stokvis Chapter 20: Canada - Amanda Schweinbenz Chapter 21: The Caribbean - Alan Cobley Chapter 22: China - Fan Hong - Chapter 23: Central and Eastern Europe Marek Waic, Stefan Zwick & Tomas Pavlin Chapter 24: France - Thierry Terret Chapter 25: Germany Arnd Krüger Chapter 26: Great Britain - Martin Johnes Chapter 27: Ireland - David Hassan & Philip O'Kane Chapter 28: Japan - Richard Light Chapter 29: Middle East and North Africa - Mahfoud Amara Chapter 30: Mexico and Central America - Richard McGehee Chapter 31: New Zealand (Aotearoa) - Malcolm MacLean Chapter 32: Nordic Countries - Niels Kayser Nielson Chapter 33: Russia/Soviet Union - Jim Riordan Chapter 34: South America - Cesar Torres Chapter 35: South Asia - Chris Valiotis Chapter 36: South East Asia- Charles Little Chapter 37: The United States of America - Mark Dyreson