What is the significance of sport in contemporary society? To what extent can sport be seen as an agent of socio-cultural change? In the decade or more since publication of the first edition of Understanding Sport, both sport and wider global society have experienced profound change. In this fully updated, revised and expanded edition of their classic textbook, John Horne, Alan Tomlinson, Garry Whannel and Kath Woodward offer a critical and reflective introduction to the relationship between sport and contemporary society and explain how sport remains both an important agent and symptom of socio-cultural change. Fully integrating historical, sociological, political and cultural analysis, the book examines every key topic in the study of sport and society, including: debate, interpretation and theory sport and the media sport and the body sport and politics commercialization globalisation research methods. Retaining the accessibility and scholarly rigour for which Understanding Sport has always been renowned, this new edition includes entirely new chapters on governance, global transformations, bodies, sites, places and events, and a succinct guide to researching sport. With review and seminar questions included in every chapter, plus concise, helpful guides to further reading, Understanding Sport remains an essential textbook for all courses on sport and society, the sociology of sport, sport and social theory, or social issues in sport.