Playing the Game

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Summary

Guns and bombs may be the chief weapons of imperialism, but never underestimate the power of leisure; a kingdom's worth nothing without it! This program measures the global rise of British rule by ...

Guns and bombs may be the chief weapons of imperialism, but never underestimate the power of leisure; a kingdom's worth nothing without it! This program measures the global rise of British rule by tracing the growth of a particularly British type of hero-adventurer, gentleman, amateur sportsman, and decent chap-as well as a decidedly British type of obsession: sport, the empire at play. Viewers are taken to East Africa in the footsteps of Victorian explorers in search of the source of the Nile; to Khartoum, to tell the story of General Gordon, a half-crazed visionary who "played the game" to the hilt; to Hong Kong, where the British indulged their passion for horse racing by building a spectacular race course; and to Jamaica, where the greatest imperial game of all-cricket-became a battleground for racial equality.

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