Abstract
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers a host of examples of the entanglement of politics in sporting nationalism. It presents that historians look more closely at the political and economic regulation of time and space as the driver of the emergence and development of modern forms of sport. The book identifies a relatively recent interest among historians of sport in different, non-textual forms of representing the sporting past. It demonstrates how the relationships between sport and politics have transformed, and are transforming, the trajectory of sport history as well as shaping the emergence of new themes and topics. The book explores the relationship between sport and politics at the international level with a focus on the International Olympic Committee. It also explores race and racism in North American and South African sport respectively.