Tennis is a high-stakes game, played by prodigies identified early and coached by professionals in hopes of high rankings and endorsements. This commercial world is far removed from the origins of the sport. Before 1968 when Wimbledon invited professional players to compete for the first time tennis was part of a sportsmanship tradition that emphasized character over money. It produced well-rounded gentlemen who expressed a code of honor, not commerce. In this authoritative and affectionate history of men's tennis, ...
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Tennis is a high-stakes game, played by prodigies identified early and coached by professionals in hopes of high rankings and endorsements. This commercial world is far removed from the origins of the sport. Before 1968 when Wimbledon invited professional players to compete for the first time tennis was part of a sportsmanship tradition that emphasized character over money. It produced well-rounded gentlemen who expressed a code of honor, not commerce. In this authoritative and affectionate history of men's tennis, distinguished sociologist E. Digby Baltzell recovers the glory of the age. From its aristocratic origins in the late ninteenth century, to the Tilden years, and through a succession of newcomers, the amateur era and its virtues survived a century of democratization and conflict. Sporting Gentlemen examines the greatest players and matches in the history of tennis. Baltzell explores the tennis code of honor and its roots in the cricket code of the late-nineteenth-century Anglo-American upper class. This code of honor remained in spite of the later democratization of tennis. Thus, the court manners of the Renshaw twins and Doherty brothers at the Old Wimbledon were upheld to the letter by Don Budge and Jack Kramer as well as Rod Laver, John Newcombe, and Arthur Ashe. Baltzell's final chapter on the Open Era is a blistering attack on the decline of honor and the obliteration of class distinctions, leaving only those based on money. For all who love the game of tennis, Sporting Gentlemen is both fascinating history and a badly needed analysis of what has made the sport great.
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Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Brownstown, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Free Press.
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $1.99, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1999 by Free Press.
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $4.00, good condition, Sold by Half Price Books Inc rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Free Press.
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Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $6.39, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Free Press.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $14.50, very good condition, Sold by Gian Luigi Fine Books, Inc. rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Albany, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by FREE PRESS.
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $22.00, very good condition, Sold by Abstract Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Indianapolis, IN, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Free Press.
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Near Fine in Very Good jacket. Book (xi) 420 pp, notes, index, b/w plates, 8 vo, green boards/white cloth. Small stain bottom cover, near fine; dust jacket light edgewear, very good+
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $29.81, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by Free Press.
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $37.50, very good condition, Sold by Ground Zero Books, Ltd. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Silver Spring, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1995 by The Free Press.
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Very good in very good jacket. 420 pages. Illus., notes, index. Name of previous owner present. DJ slightly worn and soiled. The author, a distinguished sociologist, recovers the full glory of the lost amateur age in this authoritative and affectionate history of men's tennis. For all who love the game, this is both a fascinating history and abadly needed analysis of what made the sport great. Includes detailed accounts of the greatest players and matches in the history of tennis.
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen: Men's Tennis From the Age of Honor to cart. $58.00, very good condition, Sold by Edmonton Book Store rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Edmonton, AB, CANADA, published 2013 by Transaction Pub.
Add this copy of Sporting Gentlemen to cart. $75.14, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2013 by Routledge.