-"BOTTOM LINE: Accessible, engaging, and logically organized for a wide variety of readers, this work will surely provide students, teachers, and librarians with a solid foundation for understanding sports issues and how sports controversies are like mirrors that reflect the historically enduring and changing nature of our broader culture." —Library Journal

-"Obviously, attempting comprehensive coverage of contentious sports issues in a work of this size would be near impossible, but Atkinson has succeeded in bringing together a diverse range of topics that demonstrates the scope of the subject." —Reference & Research Book News

-"If one is interested in knowing what skateboarding means, then this book is a good place to start. . . . The 86 entries, such as Animal blood sports, Parent misconduct, Steroid use by athletes, and Terrorism and the Olympics, provide some good historical background and outline what battles over the subject tell us about ourselves and our cultures. . . . These volumes should be considered with other works that help high-school students through lower-level undergraduates begin their research on topics of general interest in world (although mostly North American) culture. Libraries purchasing multiple titles in the Battleground series may want to consider shelving all titles together to emphasize the common theme of controversies related to the areas covered in each title." —Booklist