The Victorians and sport is an account of the role sport played in both Victorian Britain and its empire. Major sports attracted mass followings and were widely reported in the press. Great sporting celebrities, such as the cricketer Dr. W. G. Grace, were the best-known people in the country, and sporting rivalries provoked strong loyalties and passionate emotions. Mike Huggins provides details of individual sports and sportsmen. He also shows how sport was an important part of society and of many people's lives.