Top

We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.

The First Ever English Olimpick Games

On sale

15th August 2005

Price: £6.99

Selected:  Paperback / ISBN-13: 9780340862834

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

Quirky and funny, while also being a serious account, this entertaining little paperback takes a historical event, THE FIRST EVER OLIMPICK GAMES, and looks at what it reveals about life in England in the seventeenth century: the history, monarchy, religion and politics. In a delightful manner, Celia Haddon tells the story of an incongruous mix: a Cotswold field and the Olympic Games and so brings history to life in a direct, readable and enjoyable way.



The founder of the games, Robert Dover, was a lawyer and ‘the Great Inventor and Champion of English Olimpicks’. He had the support of James l who had himself written about suitable, manly sport, partly in answer to the Puritans who thought all games led to sin and sex. From the start Dover’s games were a political, as well as a sporting, statement.



The Civil War put an end to the games. They were revived by Charles ll and continued into the 19th century when a Victorian Puritan vicar put an end to them on the grounds of licentious behaviour. Today they are still held – but as a shadow of their former glory.

What's Inside

Read More Read Less

Reviews

Harry Ritchie, Daily Mail
'Engaging...useful and entertaining'.