Europe's Troubled Peace 1945 to the Present

A veteran hockey writer takes on hockey culture and the NHL--addressing the game's most controversial issueWhether it's on-ice fist fights or head shots into the glass, hockey has become a nightly news spectacle--with players pummeling and bashing each other across the ice like drunken gladiators. And while the NHL may actually condone on-ice violence as a ticket draw, diehard hockey fan and expert Adam Proteau argues against hockey's transformation into a thuggish blood sport. In Fighting the Good Fight, Proteau sheds light on the many perspectives of those in and around the game, with interviews of current and former NHL stars, coaches, general managers, and league executives, as well as medical experts.One of the most well-known media figures on the hockey scene today, famous for his funny, feisty observations as a writer for the Toronto Star and The Hockey News and commentator on CBC radio and TV, Adam Proteau is also one of the few mainstream media voices who is vehemently anti-fighting in hockey. Not only is his book a plea to the game's gatekeepers to finally clamp down on the runaway violence that permeates the sport even at its highest level, he offers realistic suggestions on ways to finally clean the game up. Includes interviews with medical experts on head injuries and concussions, as well as with other members of the media The author not only wages an attack on the value of fighting in hockey--but also on the establishment hockey cultureCovering the most polarizing issue in hockey today, Fighting the Good Fight gives hockey fans and sports lovers everywhere a reason to stamp their feet and whistle--at a rare display of eloquence and common sense.

Tom Buchanan is Reader in Modern History Politics at Oxford University's Department for Continuing Education, where he is Director of Studies in History and Politics. He has published extensively on the relationship between Britain and the Spanish Civil War. He is currently completing a major book on China and the British Left, 1925-1976. His other research interests include the history of Amnesty International.