by David M. Christenson

[First Paragraph]

Anyone who has read Johan Huizinga's Homo Ludens knows the central role of Book Reviews 385 ancient sport in the study of play, and therefore it is of great usefulness to have a new introduction to this topic for the general reader. Nigel Crowther, Professor of classical studies at the University of Western Ontario, is an accomplished scholar of ancient Greek and Roman sports and spectacles, who has authored numerous scholarly books, articles, and chapters and has increased public awareness of the fascinating field of ancient sports via more popular media too. To this book, which is aimed at the nonspecialist, Crowther not only brings the requisite expertise in historical and cultural studies, but he is also conversant with the various fields that inform this truly multidisciplinary area of study: anthropology, sociology, gender studies, and psychology.