The World Cup as World History uses football’s premier event to analyze modern sports and world history. William D. Bowman traces the history of a tournament that has become a global phenomenon that generates intense political, economic, and cultural interest and profound discussions about racial, ethnic, and gender identity in the contemporary era. By focusing on the World Cup, the book keeps a tight thematic focus that allows for an integrated discussion of the core issues of globalization, money and finance, sport as spectacle, race and gender, and contemporary politics.

A flexible, valuable tool for the classroom. It uses a famous event—the World Cup—as an entering wedge into the study of world history. It situates the evolution of the World Cup in the context of political, economic, and cultural globalization in ways that are accessible to students and useful to teachers. -- Eric Reed, Western Kentucky University
Football has formed part of the fabric of our society for more than one hundred years. William Bowman offers a fresh and accessible approach to tackling world history?through the lens of ‘The Beautiful Game’ and its World Cup. His book clearly and concisely shows the dynamism of football as a cultural phenomenon that has become a vehicle through which many different aspects of society are influenced, from politics, economics, and globalization to questions on cultural, racial, and gender identities. The World Cup as World History offers a new approach to understanding world history and how we can look at and make sense of the past. -- Timothy J. Ashton, University of South Carolina, Aiken
Bowman cleverly combines world history and the history of football’s largest event to produce a cohesive and interesting introduction to global issues. He effectively uses a specific sporting event to enliven interest and offer a core narrative, something approaches to world history often struggle with; yet the author also organizes the book along issues of class, race, gender, culture, politics, and economics, ensuring rigor and more traditional analysis. The combination introduces readers to core historical issues in an entertaining and welcoming way. -- Andrew McFarland, Indiana University Kokomo

William D. Bowman is the Johnson Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities and professor of history at Gettysburg College. His books include Imperialism in the Modern World and Priest and Parish in Vienna, 1780 to 1880. At Gettysburg College, he teaches courses on modern European and world history as well as the history of sports.