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A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport

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A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport (Hardcover)

by Ramachandra Guha (Author)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 511 pages
Publisher: Picador (19 Jul 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0330491164
ISBN-13: 978-0330491167
Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 15.9 x 3.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,115,344 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#33 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Cricket > International > India & Pakistan

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Product Description

Ramachandra Guha is one of the world's foremost historians and writers on cricket. Here he is offering three books to Picador. The first will be an Indian history of a British sport - cricket which will be written in his usual animated and highly informed way. The second book is a fascinating anthology of what people have said about Gandhi - from politicians, writers, artists. It will be very international and hugely enlightening. The third book is a definitive biography of Gandhi - Gandhi is regarded as one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century and Guha is the perfect biographer. Ramachandra Guha's book is an extraordinary work of non-fiction. Charting the social history of cricket in India he not only sheds light on the way a society works during a time of massive social and political transformation (the small but important social arguments that take place - for example, the staking out of territory in terms of public parks; the changes in position between the ruler and the ruled and within the limits of caste and class) but he also brilliantly traces the links between sport and politics. A Corner of a Foreign Field makes references to the 1936 Olympics and the cricket boycott of South Africa and it is in these references that the key to this extraordinary book lies. In prose that is entertaining and incisive, Guha subtly demonstrates that a national sport can not fail to have social and political ramifications and that these ramifications both reflect and often provoke major political change. This book is important not only as an historical record but also as an analysis of the way in which sport has affected modern history. It is, most importantly, very entertaining and is that rarest of things - a book about cricket that will grip both fans and non-fans alike.

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	74% buy the item featured on this page: A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport 4.0 out of 5 stars (2)
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	5% buy A Social History of English Cricket 4.6 out of 5 stars (8) �7.18

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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)

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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cricket and social history superbly combined, 7 Jan 2003

By	"clip314" - See all my reviews

I've never bothered much with cricket books, aside from stats compilations, compendia of cricket journalism, and a few snatches of Brian Close's autobiography in the school library over 20 years ago when I should have been reading Jane Austen. However, I'm unreservedly recommending this one.

It's a social history of both India and the game there, following its founding in colonial times up until the latter-day clashes with Pakistan. It only really describes matches when they're relevant to the socio-political context, concentrating especially on the Bombay Quadrangular, a competition in the 1920s and 30s where the teams competed along religious/ethnic lines. It highlights the early, and unsung, heroes of Indian cricket - Baloo Palwankar and CK Nayudu - and evokes the country's irrational love of an imported sport brilliantly from start to finish. Good debunking too of the myth behind Lord Harris - proven here not to have been the game's founding father in India at all - and a great account of England's first tour there in the 1930s under one D Jardine, the year after Bodyline.

Meticulously researched and written throughout, it has to be a better bet than self-serving autobiographies and tedious tour diaries.

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars great concept - too textbookish for me., 5 Nov 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport (Paperback)

Having lived in India, and being a great cricket fan, I was really looking forward to this book. The subject matter looks great and the idea for a great book is here.

That said, this book is very hard work. It is meticulously researched and the author has left no corner unturned. I simply found it hard to enjoy. Opening it up to read the next few pages came to be a chore not very far into the book.

I feel this is more like a textbook, something that a student of Indian history may be happy to plough through, but as somebody just reading it for leisure and pleasure, I just felt like there was simply too much information to absorb. I don't read textbooks for pleasure.

Would love to give this more than the 3 stars, but I didn't finish it, and to be honest I am only giving it 3 stars because I figure the amount of work the author has clearly put into it doesn't deserve less.

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