ABSTRACT
Second, there is much confusion over what counts as History. Consider the difference between histories of sports in Britain (golf, hockey, tennis, etc.) and the history of sport in British society. Again, this might equally be considered in relation to military history. We might need to consult histories of regiments and battles to compile a comprehensive overview of what happened to society at war, but we would be fully aware of the difference between the history of the Lee Enfield rifle and its technical specification and the social history of the British infantry soldier. Yet, so often sport history gets caught up in some amazingly detailed stuff that seemingly only describes the scores, teams and exciting events relating to a particular sport or town or city. As Martin Johnes has remarked elsewhere mainstream historians need to be guided through the morass of material produced in the name of sport history.25
