By the same editors as the Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present (ABC-CLIO, 1996), this is a completely fresh work and, according to the introduction, of a more cross-disciplinary nature than the earlier one. The 430 entries touch a wide sports spectrum, from sports management to kinesiology; from anthropology and sociology to leisure studies; and from performance enhancement to policy analysis, in addition to individual sports and sporting events. The claim is that every sport, for men or women, in every country is covered. Specifically excluded are statistical information, rules of the games, and biographical sketches. Rather, the encyclopedia tries to illuminate the larger context within which sport takes place. The stated intent of the compilers is to hook students with sports to simultaneously inform them about topics such as history, culture, ethnicity, and international relations.

Many of the contributors are well known in their field and are often athletes themselves. Entries are alphabetical, average about three to five pages in length, and are followed by impressive and detailed lists of further reading (often a dozen or more sources, including scholarly journal articles). More than 1,000 pictures, illustrations, and examples of set-aside text (often quotations from relevant primary sources) appear throughout the volumes. An extensive index and cross-references are included, as is a "Reader's Guide," or topical table of contents breaking entries down into categories such as "College Sports," "Venues," "National (Country) Profiles," and "Sport in Society." The entry on Fan loyalty is emblematic of the whole. It begins with a reference to the Psychological Continuum Model, an idea articulated in a 2001 journal article in Sport Management Review (full citation provided). The entry makes numerous other scholarly references, while including sidebars--one containing a poem by Baseball Hall of Fame sportswriter Grantland Rice about the fan's anticipation of baseball season, and the other a quotation from noted contemporary sports columnist Thomas Boswell. A photograph of Portuguese soccer fans decorates the entry. The question of "Fan Loyalty--Good or Bad?" is entertained, all in four pages followed by 22 complete references. Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present also covers sports as a societal institution, but its 250 entries deal mostly with individual sports and sporting events. Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport, on the other hand, takes the treatment of the societal aspects of sports to another level, with entries not just for Baseball, to take one example, but also for Baseball nicknames, Baseball stadiums, and Baseball wives. Because the Berkshire set is a totally new work, even libraries that own the earlier title will want to consider it. It is a fine addition to any library at the high-school level or above.