Synopses & Reviews
and#147;
Skiing into Modernity offers historians a brand-new vision of the Alps and a remarkably fresh and nuanced history of skiing. But, perhaps most important, it reveals just how much our physical landscapes and leisure practices have emerged in concert with changing views about how individuals should relate to nature.and#8221;and#151;Annie Gilbert Coleman, author of
Ski Style: Sport and Culture in the Rockies and#147;An engagingly written, beautifully illustrated, fascinating transnational history of tourism, economic development, environmentalism, and sport in the Alps. Taking a geographical space rather than a nation-state in which to root his focus on 'Alpine modernism,' Denning analyzes the evolving assumptions of French, German, Austrian, Italian, and Swiss ski associations, ski publications, and other advocates of skiing since the late nineteenth century. A work of serious scholarship on an admittedly fun topic, Skiing into Modernity will interest general readers, students, and historians of Europe.and#8221;and#151;Stephen L. Harp, author of Marketing Michelin: Advertising and Cultural Identity in Twentieth-Century France and Au Naturel: Naturism, Nudism, and Tourism in Twentieth-Century France
and#147;In the Alps, modernity arrived wearing a pair of skis. With this central thesis, Andrew Denning takes a refreshingly novel look at the Alpine landscape and its inhabitants, who were often said to be stuck in an archaic world. Skiing into Modernity is environmental and cultural history at its best. It crosses disciplines and, indeed, national borders. Wonderfully written and brilliantly researched, Denning wears his scholarship lightly, aiming not to impress but to inform and to understand.and#8221;and#151;Christof Mauch, Director, Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich; Past President, European Society for Environmental History
Review
and#8220;An intriguing tale of soccer within the matrix of Franceand#8217;s history of colonialism.and#8221; STARRED REVIEW
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and#8220;Drills down to uncover the relationship among politics, race and the legacy of empire.and#8221;
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and#8220;Excellentand#8221;
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and#8220;Tale of how even the most seemingly apolitical institutions in a society can become the battlegrounds for its most pressing questions of identity and ambition.and#8221;
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and#8220;The best, most important contribution to soccer scholarship to date. . . .A timely and wonderful book.and#8221;
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and#8220;Soccer Empire has a heart that beats louder than most, and is all the better for it.and#8221;
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and#8220;There are several books to tell you who first won the yellow jersey or the identity of the youngest post-war winner of the Tour de France, the kind you might receive as a gift. This is sort of book youand#8217;d buy for yourself.and#8221;
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and#8220;This book is filled fascinating material. . . . Thompson has made a great deal of sense out of this complicated story.and#8221;
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and#8220;A comprehensive history of France from the raceand#8217;s inception, long before Greg LeMond or Lance Armstrong were born.and#8221;
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andquot;[An] intellectual study.andquot;
Synopsis
Skiing into Modernity is the story of how skiing moved from Europeand#8217;s Scandinavian periphery to the mountains of central Europe, where it came to define the modern Alps and set the standard for skiing across the world.
Denning offers a fresh, sophisticated, and engaging cultural and environmental history of skiing that alters our understanding of the sport and reveals how leisure practices evolve in unison with our changing relationship to nature. Denning probes the modernist self-definition of Alpine skiers and the sportand#8217;s historical appeal for individuals who sought to escape city strictures while achieving mastery of mountain environments through technology and speedand#151;two central features distinguishing early twentieth-century cultures.
Skiing into Modernity surpasses existing literature on the history of skiing to explore intersections between work, tourism, leisure, development, environmental destruction, urbanism, and more.
Synopsis
When France both hosted and won the World Cup in 1998, the face of its star player, Zinedine Zidane, the son of Algerian immigrants, was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe. During the 2006 World Cup finals, Zidane stunned the country by ending his spectacular career with an assault on an Italian player. In Soccer Empire, Laurent Dubois illuminates the connections between empire and sport by tracing the story of World Cup soccer, from the Cupand#8217;s French origins in the 1930s to Africa and the Caribbean and back again. As he vividly recounts the lives of two of soccerand#8217;s most electrifying players, Zidane and his outspoken teammate, Lilian Thuram, Dubois deepens our understanding of the legacies of empire that persist in Europe and brilliantly captures the power of soccer to change the nation and the world.
Synopsis
"Laurent Dubois mines the history of French soccer for fascinating theories and riveting stories. His understanding of the relationship between the game and politics is subtle, leading readers deep into important discussions about race and national identity. For those of us who admired the poetics of Les Bleus this is essential reading."and#151;Franklin Foer, author of
How Soccer Explains the World"Laurent Dubois is historian, fan and graceful writer all in one. In soccer, he has found an innovative way to explore France and its empire. A serious book and an excellent read."and#151;Simon Kuper, author of Soccernomics
"Beautifully lyrical and authoritative. We meet a host of players, colonized and colonizer, following them from their original playing fieldsand#151;a vast lawn, a concrete lotand#151;to their triumphs in national and international play." and#151;Alice Kaplan, author of The Interpreter
"This book is a brilliant, beautifully written, and unique history of French colonialism and post-coloniality through the lens of football/soccer. Dubois weaves an eminently readable and engaging narrative that tracks tensions around race and national identity through the biographies of key football players and officials who became iconic of the aspirations of peripheral subjects of the French empire. More than a simple history of French football, the book amounts to a description of France's imperial project and an incisive reflection on the race question in contemporary France. It will please both fans of the 'beautiful game' and those inclined to dismiss sports as but the opium of the masses."and#151;Paul Silverstein, author of Algeria in France: Transpolitics, Race and Nation
Synopsis
In this highly original history of the worldand#8217;s most famous bicycle race, Christopher S. Thompson, mining previously neglected sources and writing with infectious enthusiasm for his subject, tells the compelling story of the Tour de France from its creation in 1903 to the present. Weaving the words of racers, politicians, Tour organizers, and a host of other commentators together with a wide-ranging analysis of the culture surrounding the eventand#151;including posters, songs, novels, films, and media coverageand#151;Thompson links the history of the Tour to key moments and themes in French history. He argues persuasively that this hugely popular sporting event has been instrumental in French attempts to grapple with the great challenges they have confronted during their tumultuous twentieth centuryand#151;from World Wars, political divisions, and class conflict to economic modernization, womenand#8217;s emancipation, and threats to public health. Examining the enduring popularity of Tour racers, Thompson explores how their public images have changed over the past century. He concludes with a discussion of the longstanding practice of doping and considers the complex case of the seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.
Synopsis
"Shows that sport has been for us moderns the ultimate
tabula rasa into which we pour our hopes, fears, prejudices and self-interest."and#151;Robert A. Nye, author of
Crime, Madness, and Politics in Modern France and
Masculinity and Male Codes of Honor in Modern France"A true gem of a book. A terrific scholar and an engaging writer."and#151;Dean MacCannell, author of The Tourist and Empty Meeting Grounds
"A major new interpretation of France's most famous sporting event. For the first time the Tour de France has been fully and carefully placed within the wider context of French history."and#151;Richard Holt, author of Sport and Society in Modern France and Sport and the British
"Chris Thompson has written an engaging, nicely-paced account of France's world-famous cycle race: his writing is lively and full of detail and excitement. But he has done much more than simply narrate the story of the Tour. His book sets the raceand#151;its history, its participants and its meaningand#151;firmly in its shifting national and cultural contexts. The sections dealing with professional cycling as a form of labor and with the Tour's place in France's troubled twentieth century are absolutely first-rate: insightful and original. This is the best history of the Tour that we have and are likely to have for many years, a work of scholarship that deserves to find a broad general readership."and#151;Tony Judt, author of Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
About the Author
Laurent Dubois is Professor of French and History at Duke University. He is the author of many award-winning books, including Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution, which was a Best Book of the Los Angeles Times and a Notable Book of the Christian Science Monitor.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. La Grande Boucle: Cycling, Progress, and Modernity in Twentieth-Century France
2. Itineraries, Narratives, and Identities in Twentieth-Century France
3. The Gand#233;ants de la Route: Gender and Heroism in Twentieth-Century France
4. Land#8217;Autoand#8217;s Ouvriers de la Pand#233;dale: Work, Class, and the Tour de France, 1903and#150;1939
5. The Forand#231;ats de la Route: Exploits, Exploitation, and the Politics of Athletic Excess, 1903and#150;1939
6. What Price Heroism? Work, Sport, and Drugs in Postwar France
Epilogue
Appendix: Racersand#8217; Occupations
Notes
Bibliography
Index