Beyond a Boundary

Part memoir of a West Indian boyhood, part celebration of the game of cricket, this self-portrait of a life spent playing, watching and writing about the game, tells us of its psychology and aesthetics, players the author knew, and the issues of class, race and politics surrounding it.

One of the greatest of all sports books, now reissued with a new introduction. C L R James, one of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century, was devoted to the game of cricket. In this classic summation of half a lifetime spent playing, watching and writing about the sport, he recounts the story of his overriding passion and tells us of the players whom he knew and loved, exploring the game's psychology and aesthetics, and the issues of class, race and politics that surround it. Part memoir of a West Indian boyhood, part passionate celebration and defence of cricket as an art form, part indictment of colonialism, Beyond a Boundary addresses not just a sport but a whole culture and asks the question, 'What do they know of cricket who only cricket know?'