Beyond A Boundary  (English, Paperback, James Cyril Lionel Robert)

Beyond A Boundary is a sports book written by C. L. R. James that gives the reader an insight of the Western culture and Cricket as a game.

Summary Of The Book

C. L. R. James’ Beyond a Boundary is a book that talks about cricket and the set in the colonial West Indies. The author is considered one of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century and was deeply passionate about the game of cricket. In this classic book, he summarizes his half-a-lifetime spent watching, playing, and writing about cricket.

Here, James retells the real story of his paramount passion for the game and along with that explores various other aspects of the game. The readers get to know about the players whom the author not just knew but loved. The book also explores the psychology and aesthetics of the game and issues of race, class, and politics surrounding cricket.

Beyond A Boundary was originally published in 1963 in England and twenty years later it got published in America. Written in a provocative and eloquent manner, James in this book brings out the real psychology and politics that goes-on on the field when the viewer only manages to see the façade of a conflict or performance.

Beyond A Boundary is an amalgamation of different things. It is a memoir of the author who reminiscences his childhood in a black colony of West Indies. It is also a passionate celebration of this unusual game as an art. And as the book explores the facts about colonial oppression, it not just talks about the sport but opens up a whole culture to the reader and makes them question their knowledge of cricket.

About C. L. R. James

C. L. R. James was an Afro-Trinidadian novelist, historian, cultural critic, socialist theorist, political activist, essayist, journalist, and an avid sportsman.

C. L. R. James has authored several other books such as A History of Pan-African Revolt, Toussaint Louverture: The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History, You Don't Play with Revolution: The Montreal Lectures of C.L.R. James, A New Notion: Every Cook Can Govern and "The Invading Socialist Society", The Nobbie Stories for Children and Adults, and State Capitalism & World Revolution etc.

Cyril Lionel Robert James was born on 4th January 1901 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He graduated from Queen’s Royal College where he later worked as a teacher. He used to publish short stories for The Beacon magazine. When he left Trinidad for London, he worked as a cricket correspondent for the Manchester Guardian. He remained a central figure in the Pan-African movement and also participated in the struggle for colonial emancipation. His works have been influential in several social, theoretical, and historiographical contexts. He is also known for his autodidactism and occasional playwriting and fiction. Some critics used to call him the writer on cricket, who died in 1989 in London.