This is another volume in the useful Sports Reference Library Series. The editor is Richard Cox (2003) of UMIST, who is also editor of British Sport: A Bibliography to 2000 in the same series, which was previously reviewed in these columns by the present reviewer (RR 2004/106).
Cox is very thorough in seeking out suitable references for the period 1995‐1999. The bibliography bridges the gap between the last international bibliography of sport published in International Journal of the History of Sport 1997 (Vol. 14) and the beginning of a new annual listing produced as a separate issue to the journal from 2002. The author notes that the annual number of sports publications has increased from around 250 to 1,000 per year over the last decade. This is because during the late 1980s and 1990s, many sports clubs, leagues and governing bodies of sport worldwide have celebrated their centenaries and published histories to mark the occasion. Sports history research has also become popular at degree level and the number of courses has proliferated.
This bibliography deals first with worldwide reference works such as sports statistics and encyclopedias. It then deals with historiography and research and then covers the general history of sport and anthologies. There is a useful section on the history of international sporting events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, followed by histories of individual sports in alphabetical order. The layout of each citation is the same as in the previous volume, so I will not repeat the comments made then. Suffice to say that Cox has been extremely diligent in his research and the layout of each section is clear and concise. The largest section of the bibliography is given over to the histories of modern sport in individual countries arranged first by continent and then by country. Thus the UK has a useful breakdown of sport by county, so that one can refer to county cricket clubs, rugby clubs, etc. There are also biographical studies of well‐known individuals in sport – looking at my own area of motor racing, one can find biographies of Michael Schumacher (Germany) and David Coulthard (Scotland) which have been written during this period.
There follows a comprehensive index to current contents of journals and conference proceedings and a small section on collections of essays. This is followed by an author index, which refers readers to the running numbers given to each citation. There is also a second author index, commencing on page 189, which seems to bear no relation to any of the entries in this volume, and which, I assume, has been bound in by accident. If not, someone please enlighten me!
I would certainly recommend this work as a useful addition to the sports reference shelves in any large reference library, and to the library of any college or university running courses on sports history or management. It is not cheap priced at £65, but as a huge amount of research has gone into its compilation it should be worth every penny to specialists making reference to it.
