Now available in paperback this vital handbook marks the development of sports studies as a major new discipline within the social sciences. Edited by the leading sociologist of sport Eric Dunning & Jay Coakley author of the best selling textbook on sport in the USA it both reflects & richly endorses this new found status. Key aspects of the Handbook include: an inventory of the principal achievements in the field; a guide to the chief conflicts & difficulties in the theory & research process; a rallying point for researchers who are established or new to the field which sets the agenda for future developments; a resource book for teachers who wish to establish new curricula & develop courses & programmes in the area of sports studies. With an international & inter-disciplinary team of contributors the Handbook of Sports Studies is comprehensive in scope relevant in content & far-reaching in its discussion of future prospect.