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From Stoke Mandeville to Stratford: A History of the Summer Paralympic Games by Ian Brittain is now available as part of the  Sport and Society series.

As Aristotle once said, “If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development.” When Dr Ian Brittain started researching the history of the Paralympic Games after beginning his PhD studies in 1999, it quickly became clear that there was no clear or comprehensive source of information about the Paralympic Games or Great Britain’s participation in the Games. This book is an attempt to document the history of the summer Paralympic Games and present it in one accessible and easy-to-read volume. From the outset, it should be made very clear that this book is not meant to be an academic text. It has always been the author’s intention that it should be a resource for anyone with an interest in the Paralympic Games, their history, or Great Britain’s participation in the Games. Through twelve years of research, the author has brought together all of the facts, figures, and interesting stories that have occurred in the development of the summer Games—from their roots at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the United Kingdom to the global mega-event they have become today. This is the first publication to include images of posters, winner’s medals, and other artefacts connected with the Games—some of which have never been seen in print. Every endeavour has been made to include all relevant information, and this text serves as an ideal starting point from which future researchers and historians may begin. As we have noticed recently with the increased documentation of Olympic history, it is the author’s hope that this text will inspire others to contribute to a more complete history of the Paralympic Games. A more complete history may lead to a better understanding of the importance of the Paralympic Games and their impact upon the lives of people with disabilities.

Dr Ian Brittain is Project Manager for ‘Peace, Olympics, Paralympics’ within the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies at Coventry University. He is a former Executive Board member of the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation and has attended the last three Paralympic Games in Sydney, Athens, and Beijing. Besides carrying out research in sport as a tool for peace and development, a large part of his research focuses on sociological, historical, and sports management aspects of Paralympic and disability sport.

Hockey as a Religion: The Montreal Canadiens by Olivier Bauer is now available as part of the  Sport and Society series.

Sport is all about play and game, aesthetic and strength, passion and emotion, challenge and rivalry. But because sometimes players and fans look for a little extra help from God, gods, spirits or any other Supreme Being, sport is also a matter of beliefs and Faith. Often, sport uses religion if the sport itself does not become a religion first.

In Montreal, the fans’ passion and emotion benefits the Montreal Canadiens, the oldest and the most victorious National Hockey League team.

Since 2008, the Protestant Theologian Olivier Bauer, a former hockey goaltender, is carefully studying the religious aspects of the Montreal Canadiens. In his book, Olivier Bauer reveals how the Montreal Canadiens becomes a religion, specifies which kind of religion it is, and explains how it is interrelated with Quebec’s Catholicism. From a theological point of view, he analyses two ways of practicing the Montreal Canadiens Religion, shows why both ways are idolatry, denounces the weakness of such a religion, and pleads for an evangelical use of the Montreal Canadiens.

Based on the Montreal Canadiens, Olivier Bauer explains how sport becomes a religion, but he also critics the religion that sport offers.