British Sporting Literature and Culture in the Long Eighteenth Century

Book excerpt: Examining the underexplored intersection of sport, literature, and culture, this collection situates sport within multiple contexts, including religion, labor, leisure time, politics, nationalism, gender, play, and science. A poetics, literature, and culture of sport swelled during the era, influencing artists such as John Collett and writers that included Lord Byron, Jonathan Swift, and Henry Fielding. Taken together, the essays offer valuable, multiple perspectives on reading sport during the century when sport became modern.