ABSTRACT
These six thematic chapters have demonstrated ways in which sport has been part of the post-war British historical experience. Beyond reflecting social, cultural, economic, and political trends, the heterogeneous world of competitive and recreative physical games has been part of those trends. They have literally given physical form to the wider debates being played out about gender, class, and ethnic relations, and have been part of the growth of the state, the contested notion of national identity, and the commercial setting of post-industrial society. While sport may have been neglected by historians until recently, its role in these processes demonstrates that it was not neglected at the time, and by recovering the history of those relations, we have gone some way towards establishing a fuller picture of the period as a whole. While total history, like total football, may be a practical impossibility, there is no doubt that the endeavour – in both cases – is worth the effort.
