No one can deny the power of sports in American culture but before Michael Mandelbaum, no one had truly explained it. In The Meaning of Sports, Mandelbaum, one of the nation's most preeminent foreign policy thinkers, applies the full force of his wit and intellect to America's century-long love affair with team sports. Whether he is writing about the histories, the legends, the rules or the strategies of these games, Mandelbaum illuminates the cultural principles and the social trends that they embody. Critically acclaimed by sports writers, cultural commentators, and political pundits, The Meaning of Sports offers everyone-from novice sports fans to the most seasoned fanatics, from scholars of Americana to sports widows-a deep, compelling, and utterly new understanding of baseball, football and basketball: what they say about us, and why so many of us follow them with such remarkable devotion. "Not only fascinating but enormously entertaining. A knowledgeable sports fan will learn more than a thing or two. I'm one and I did. The non-sports fan will discover just why sports are woven so tightly into the fabric of American life." (Fred Barnes, The Wall Street Journal)