They Will Have Their Game explores how games, sports, and theater helped shape American democracy during the formative years of the republic. Far from being an escape from everyday life, entertainments such as horse racing, playing cards, and theatergoing became central battlegrounds on which Americans of all backgrounds fought to secure rights, opportunities, and power. Through dozens of compelling personal stories that draw on a wide range of previously unexamined evidence, Cohen illustrates why entertainment became more contested, or, as people in the period said it, "sporting," over the course of the century from 1760 to 1860. On one hand, harrowing tales of failure and bankruptcy explain why investors and professional performers increasingly catered to the demands of the widest audience possible, even if that diverse array of participants wanted to challenge social boundaries related to class, race, and gender. But on the other hand, the popularity of a sporting culture rife with challenge also helped politicians and businessmen use sporting culture to portray America as being more democratic than it was -- to the point of calling elections "races" and business a "game" in which the "best man won." So, over time, sporting culture evolved into both a breeding ground for assertions of democratic equality that led to Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King, and Hamilton, as well as an arena for establishing the power of wealth that continues to resonate in the ranks of owners, producers, and luxury box attendees. Fusing critical and celebratory histories of entertainment, and reorienting those histories to put men like P.T. Barnum at the end rather than the beginning of the process, Cohen shows that -- since the country's birth -- America's political culture has been built as much from the sporting world of racing, theater, and taverns, as from legislation and weighty political theory. At a moment rife with debate about the relationship between politics and entertainment, They Will Have Their Game traces the long history of entertainment's impact on American politics and values. Winner of the 2018 James Broussard Prize for the Best First Book on American History between the Revolution and the Civil War, awarded by the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic.

They Will Have Their Game: Sporting Culture and the Making of the Early American Republic

History

Cohen, Kenneth

Americas

Cornell University Press

They Will Have Their Game explores how games, sports, and theater helped shape American democracy during the formative years of the republic. Far from being an escape from everyday life, entertainments such as horse racing, playing cards, and theatergoing became central battlegrounds on which Americans of all backgrounds fought to secure rights, opportunities, and power.\nThrough dozens of compelling personal stories that draw on a wide range of previously unexamined evidence, Cohen illustrates why entertainment became more contested, or, as people in the period said it, "sporting," over the course of the century from 1760 to 1860. On one hand, harrowing tales of failure and bankruptcy explain why investors and professional performers increasingly catered to the demands of the widest audience possible, even if that diverse array of participants wanted to challenge social boundaries related to class, race, and gender. But on the other hand, the popularity of a sporting culture rife with challenge also helped politicians and businessmen use sporting culture to portray America as being more democratic than it was -- to the point of calling elections "races" and business a "game" in which the "best man won." So, over time, sporting culture evolved into both a breeding ground for assertions of democratic equality that led to Jackie Robinson, Billie Jean King, and Hamilton, as well as an arena for establishing the power of wealth that continues to resonate in the ranks of owners, producers, and luxury box attendees. Fusing critical and celebratory histories of entertainment, and reorienting those histories to put men like P.T. Barnum at the end rather than the beginning of the process, Cohen shows that -- since the country's birth -- America's political culture has been built as much from the sporting world of racing, theater, and taverns, as from legislation and weighty political theory. At a moment rife with debate about the relationship between politics and entertainment, They Will Have Their Game traces the long history of entertainment's impact on American politics and values.\nWinner of the 2018 James Broussard Prize for the Best First Book on American History between the Revolution and the Civil War, awarded by the Society of Historians of the Early American Republic.

T’ai Chi and qigong are popular because of their great reputations as exercises with numerous health-related benefits. Can these benefits simply be results of placebo effects? Chapters in this e-book not only provide an interesting historical backdrop in which taiji and qigong developed, but also provide scientific support for the efficacy and effects of both modalities. Breslow’s chapter focuses on Daoist practices associated with their quest for immortality and longevity. Rhoads, Crider, and Hayduk looks at taiji and qigong with the tools of modern science. DeMarco compares Yang-style taiji practice of with guidelines provided by the National Institue of Health. Kachur, Carleton, and Asmundson provide an excellent chapter that gives insight into aspects of taiji practice that improve balance. The final chapter by Kenneth Cohen offers a history of the taiji ruler as a tool conducive to vitalizing the qi. Included are aspects of design, lineage, and some illustrated exercises, plus details on qi circulation. For anyone who questions the validity of taiji and qigong as exercise modalities, the collected writings in this book will provide information not available elsewhere. In addition to finding the historical and scientific foundation of these practices, the contents in this book will help improve taiji and qigong practice, bringing the many benefits as claimed for these gems of Chinese culture.

T'ai Chi & Qigong for Your Health: Historical and Scientific Foundations

Health, Fitness & Dieting

DeMarco, Michael

Breslow, Arieh Lev

Asmundson, Gordon

Crider, Duane

Rhoads, C.J.

Hayduk, Dina

Carleton, R. Nicholas

Kachur, Shane

Exercise & Fitness

Via Media Publishing Company

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