Overview

In today’s hypercompetitive world, contact sports bring about fierce rivalries between fans, between players, and even between countries. From the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Michigan Wolverines in grid iron football, to the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby, to Real Madrid and Barcelona in association football (soccer), contact sports incite a passion few other games can replicate. Though these modern contests of brawn might vary in ways both subtle and significant, they draw on a common history that dates back centuries. Overcoming rulers, conquerors, and religious leaders, the games of ancient times survived and flourished to become the sports we know and love today. In The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer, Christopher Rowley reveals how ball games arose and took shape into seven distinct forms: American football, association football, Australian rules football, Canadian football, Gaelic football, rugby league football, and rugby union football. Rowley traces ball games back to the Mayans in Meso-America and the Han Dynasty in China, through ancient Egypt and Greece, and on through the Cradle of football in England and Scotland. His narrative includes the relatively recent development of rules, codes, and leagues and concludes with the current state of football around the world. The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer takes the reader through this unique odyssey in world history by bringing to life the little-known games of the past. Rowley recreates ancient games from around the world based on surviving documents and illustrations, and relates first-hand accounts of fossil games still played today. Through careful research, the common ancestry of our modern seven codes of football is finally pieced together to create a fascinating history of the world of football that we know today.

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9781442246188

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Reviews

In this self-proclaimed nonacademic work, Rowley traces the origins of seven contemporary ball games-all variants of American football, soccer, and rugby-to a common beginning. He organizes the book chronologically but frequently digresses as he covers the history of these games from ancient to modern times. This span allows only a cursory description of the material, but Rowley's purpose is to provide not a detailed analysis of the history and significance of each game but rather a descriptive history that will give the fan a better understanding of each. Rowley is a journalist and novelist, and that background is evident in the writing style. He often places the reader as a spectator at a 're-creation' of the historical games, embellishing generally acknowledged facts into snapshots of history. . . .Rowley's account of commonalities of the games is entertaining. * CHOICE * The book is a rampage through history, pulling from Greek versions of ball games and earlier, before leaping oceans to chart Mayan and ancient Han Chinese games, then settling into the various versions of today's games involving inflated balls, or differing shapes, kicked or passed or somehow driven by teams across goal lines or into protected nets. Rowley explains the wild rural British and French variations of what we now see, involving entire villages, as well as the rule origins of American football, Canadian football, rugby, Australian rugby and associated football (soccer). * Woodstock Times * For football (or rugby or soccer) fans who [are] unfamiliar with the history of their favorite sports prior to the mid-19th century, the book is a quick and engaging read that offers a broad-strokes look at the history that led to the variety of modern football codes. * Sport in American History *

In this self-proclaimed nonacademic work, Rowley traces the origins of seven contemporary ball games—all variants of American football, soccer, and rugby—to a common beginning. He organizes the book chronologically but frequently digresses as he covers the history of these games from ancient to modern times. This span allows only a cursory description of the material, but Rowley's purpose is to provide not a detailed analysis of the history and significance of each game but rather a descriptive history that will give the fan a better understanding of each. Rowley is a journalist and novelist, and that background is evident in the writing style. He often places the reader as a spectator at a ‘re-creation’ of the historical games, embellishing generally acknowledged facts into snapshots of history. . . .Rowley's account of commonalities of the games is entertaining. * CHOICE * The book is a rampage through history, pulling from Greek versions of ball games and earlier, before leaping oceans to chart Mayan and ancient Han Chinese games, then settling into the various versions of today's games involving inflated balls, or differing shapes, kicked or passed or somehow driven by teams across goal lines or into protected nets. Rowley explains the wild rural British and French variations of what we now see, involving entire villages, as well as the rule origins of American football, Canadian football, rugby, Australian rugby and associated football (soccer). * Woodstock Times * For football (or rugby or soccer) fans who [are] unfamiliar with the history of their favorite sports prior to the mid-19th century, the book is a quick and engaging read that offers a broad-strokes look at the history that led to the variety of modern football codes. * Sport in American History *

The book is a rampage through history, pulling from Greek versions of ball games and earlier, before leaping oceans to chart Mayan and ancient Han Chinese games, then settling into the various versions of today's games involving inflated balls, or differing shapes, kicked or passed or somehow driven by teams across goal lines or into protected nets. Rowley explains the wild rural British and French variations of what we now see, involving entire villages, as well as the rule origins of American football, Canadian football, rugby, Australian rugby and associated football (soccer). Woodstock Times

In this self-proclaimed nonacademic work, Rowley traces the origins of seven contemporary ball games-all variants of American football, soccer, and rugby-to a common beginning. He organizes the book chronologically but frequently digresses as he covers the history of these games from ancient to modern times. This span allows only a cursory description of the material, but Rowley's purpose is to provide not a detailed analysis of the history and significance of each game but rather a descriptive history that will give the fan a better understanding of each. Rowley is a journalist and novelist, and that background is evident in the writing style. He often places the reader as a spectator at a `re-creation' of the historical games, embellishing generally acknowledged facts into snapshots of history. . . .Rowley's account of commonalities of the games is entertaining. * CHOICE * The book is a rampage through history, pulling from Greek versions of ball games and earlier, before leaping oceans to chart Mayan and ancient Han Chinese games, then settling into the various versions of today's games involving inflated balls, or differing shapes, kicked or passed or somehow driven by teams across goal lines or into protected nets. Rowley explains the wild rural British and French variations of what we now see, involving entire villages, as well as the rule origins of American football, Canadian football, rugby, Australian rugby and associated football (soccer). * Woodstock Times * For football (or rugby or soccer) fans who [are] unfamiliar with the history of their favorite sports prior to the mid-19th century, the book is a quick and engaging read that offers a broad-strokes look at the history that led to the variety of modern football codes. * Sport in American History *

Author Information

Christopher Rowley is a journalist and reporter for a local newspaper in the Catskills region of New York. He is the author of twenty-three science fiction and fantasy novels.

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