Summary

Published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, Sporting Heroes charts the popular image of the British sporting hero in works of art dating from the 18th century to the present day.

Published to accompany a major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, Sporting Heroes charts the popular image of the British sporting hero in works of art dating from the 18th century to the present day. Contemporary heroes and heroines, including Frank Bruno and Lennox Lewis, are brought together with their earlier counterparts such as the 19th-century pugilist Tom Cribb; with - among many others - cricketers from W.G. Grace to Ian Botham; footballers from Sir Stanley Matthews to Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker; and athletes from Roger Bannister to Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell and Fatima Whitbread. Illustrated throughout with paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints, photographs and multimedia works, the book also includes many images from private collections. It is both a celebration of the role of sport in popular culture and a fascinating history of how that role developed.