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There are two popular and competing viewpoints on sports. Many consider them a mere distraction from important social and political problems.Others champion sports as a powerful force for good: teaching character, promoting peace, and encouraging racial and gender equality. AndrewBertoli shows that these dominant perspectives underestimate the full extent to which sports impact modern life. Sports can worsen relations betweennations, divide countries internally, and disadvantage individuals from underprivileged backgrounds. Sports can also, however, build social capital,make people feel more connected, and provide participants with physical and cognitive benefits. Much depends on how people approach sports, bothat the individual and societal levels.

This book highlights some of the profound and startling ways that sports and politics have interacted throughoutrecent history, including: how the Olympic torch relay was started by the Nazis and reflected Hitler’s ambition to dominate Europe; the twentieth-century feminist movement to keep women out of the Olympics and the motivations of the female sports leaders who led it; how Michael Jordan’sdetermination to stay out of politics during his career may have made him the most politically impactful athlete in history. Bertoli’s insightful analysischallenges many conventional views while also helping readers understand how they can better utilize sports for themselves, their families, and theircommunities.

Andrew Bertoli is an assistant professor at IE University. His research examines how sports shape society and politics. He has written about howinternational sports impact relations between countries, whether sports promote racial and gender equality, and the role that sports play in buildingsocial connections within communities. His research has been covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and many other media outletsacross more than 20 countries.

Professor Bertoli received his Ph.D. in political science from UC Berkeley in 2016, where he also earned an M.A. instatistics. Prior to graduate school, he attended the University of Notre Dame, where he studied political science and Arabic. He also held postdoctoralfellowships at Dartmouth (2017-2018) and the University of Southern California (2016-2017).

Andrew Bertoli