Eric Dunning 
Sport Matters [PDF ebook] 
Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilisation

1999 North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Annual Book Award

Sport Matters offers a comprehensive introduction to the study of modern sport from a sociological perspective. It covers such topics as the history of sport, the development of ideas of  »fair play », sport and the emotions, the professionalization of sport, race-relations and sport and sport and gender.
Unique in its cross-cultural analysis, it uses examples from around the globe, including sports spectator violence in North America, the growth of international soccer and the role of sport in the European identity.