Sport and Polish Society in the Communist Era : Routledge : 9781032576879 : 1032576871 : 21 Dec 2023 : Using the history of sport in the small towns and local communities of Poland, this book shines new light on the everyday reality of life under a communist regime in Eastern Europe in the 20th century. This book shows how socio-cultural history - 'history from below' - that draws on rich sources, including oral testimony, personal archives, and literary and visual material, can provide the missing piece in our understanding of a significant time and place in the contemporary history of Europe. Focusing on the period between 1945 and 1989, this book shows how sport was an important element of state politics and propaganda but looks closely at the local level - at the spaces and material culture of sport - to reveal the extent to which sport had penetrated the daily culture of rural and small-town life in Poland. The stories of football players, local clubs, small sports arenas, and cy