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Politics has always been an integral part of the Olympics - not an occasional intruder in the form of a boycott, protest, or act of terrorism. In this probing social history, distinguished by a lively mix of journalism and scholarship, Allen Guttmann discusses the intended and actual meaning of the modern Olympic Games, from 1896 to 2000. Recounting the memorable and significant athletic events of the Olympics in terms of their social and political impact, Guttmann demonstrates that the modern games were revived to propagate a political message and continue to serve political purposes. This second edition of Guttmann's critically acclaimed history includes coverage of the controversial tenure of Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the International Olympic Committee, a period tainted by rising drug use among athletes and scandals accompanying the awarding of sites and marked by the debut of openly professional athletes and the significantly increased role of female athletes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Skims the surface
This is a frustrating book.On one hand, there is a lot of good detail and information on the inception and growth of the modern Olympic games.On the other, just when you think Guttmann is going to delve deeper into a topic he simply skips right on by and gives a quick recap of the medal winners in a given year.He barely even mentions the travesty of 1972 in Munich, and makes only passing mentions of some of the iconic moments of the last 50 years.Instead, he seems much more concerned with the behind the scenes wrangling amongst the various members of the IOC.Indeed, the subtitle of the book should be "A history of the IOC leadership."

Thus, a definitive history of the Olympic games remains to be written.Although the blurbs on the back claim this is a landmark in social and political history, it is anything but.Babe Didrickson, Billy Mills, etc are mentioned, but that's about it.Even his discussion of South Africa and the associated boycotts related to Apartheid are fractured and incomplete.

It's worth a read...but I wish I had visited the library for this one rather than spent my money on it.I recommend you do the same. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

WOW! I was really surprised!
When I recieved the assignment to read this book and write a term paper on it I was not very exited. What fun, writing a report about an olympic history! I resigned myself to read it on a rainy day and once I started I just couldn't stop!!!! It was not the most interesting of topics, but I really enjoyed learning abou the olympics and about the different games. I read it three times to make sure that I didn't hate it when I went back and I was not disapointed! I wrote a term paper and got the best grade in the class! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves sports and loves to learn abou the olympics and where all of the symbols and traditions were started and also about tradtions that will never happen again!
A surprised(and pleased) sixteen year old! ... Read more

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For more than a millennium, the ancient Olympics captured the imaginations of the Greeks, until a Christianized Rome terminated the competitions in the fourth century AD. But the Olympic ideal did not die and this book is a succinct history of the ancient Olympics and their modern resurgence.



Classics professor David Young, who has researched the subject for over 25 years, reveals how the ancient Olympics evolved from modest beginnings into a grand festival, attracting hundreds of highly trained athletes, tens of thousands of spectators, and the finest artists and poets. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent
Excellent history of the Olympic movement and the Games, very well balanced.For an "Official" history, Miller states his views even when they are critical of the IOC, athletes or other individuals, and hits the highlights in a very well-written book.

Olympic book
Excellent text giving all the relavent information on the games todate. Especially caters for those interested in the statistics of it all and in neeed for a ready reference. ... Read more

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Endlessly entertaining, these albums of mad miscellany abound with true tales of history's strangest characters and events—from potty potentates to dotty inventions. A mind-boggling excursion through the byways of the bizarre. ... Read more

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Together With Official Olympic And World Records And Proposed Program Of Tenth Olympiad. ... Read more

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One of the early concepts of the Olympic Games was to include "intercalated" Games every four years between the normal cycle, and to hold these Games in Athens, the ancestral home of the Olympics. In 1906 the first, and only one, of these games was held. Occurring only two years after the St. Louis Games of 1904 and two years before the London Games of 1908, the Athens Games were considered by many not to be "official"; social and political forces prevented continuation of the intercalation cycle in 1910 and later. Yet these Games were surprisingly successful and helped guarantee the survival of the modern Olympics.This book, fourth in the series on the early Olympics, presents all the data on 29 nation and city-state participants in more than a dozen events in the Athens Games. Scores and descriptions are provided, and many historical errors and omissions in other sources are corrected. Appendices include the published program for the Games, the actual schedule followed during the Games, and country-by country listings of all participating athletes. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

Lots of information crammed in
The first thing to be said about this goldmine of Olympic information is that in order to cram all the information into 528 large pages, it is printed using a small font size, which is even harder to read when italicized - and the first few paragraphs of each chapter, which contain comments by an official or athlete, are italicized. If you are concerned about eye-strain, either use a magnifying glass or only read for brief periods at a time. Actually, the nature of this book makes it ideal for dipping in and out of anyway.

The book begins with a foreword by Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, followed by a preface by the author. Neither of those contain italicized text, but the introduction, subtitled Survival, begins with italicized comments by Cathy Freeman. The idea that the Olympics are threatened with extinction seems far-fetched, but they are a political event as well as a sporting event, so I suppose nothing should be taken for granted. Corruption and scandal are never far away from the Olympics, but I'd be very surprised if they don't continue to appear every fourth year, as they have done since 1896. The original Olympics of ancient Greece died, but circumstances were very different then.

The first two chapters cover the ancient Greek Olympics and the development of the idea by Baron Pierre de Coubertin for reviving the Olympics. Chapter 3 covers the inaugural modern Olympics of 1896 and each Olympics thereafter (including the Winter Olympics) has its own chapter. Interspersed between the chapters on specific Olympics are other chapters, which generally look at what happened in the build-up or aftermath to the big events. Major off-field episodes such as the 1980 boycott are thus kept apart from the sporting chapters, but the terrorist attack in 1972 happened during the Munich Olympics and are therefore included within that chapter. In the case of Ben Johnson, the 100 metres event itself, including a picture of the award ceremony, is covered in the Seoul 1988 chapter, but a separate chapter is dedicated to the subsequent fall-out.

There are extensive appendices, but by far the most interesting are Appendix B (results) and Appendix C (medal tables). So at a glance, you can see who won gold, silver and bronze in each event, or you can see the medal table for each Olympics covered. As the title suggests, this book covers the Olympics up to and including Athens 2004.

If you can put up with the small typeface, this official history of the Olympics is truly a goldmine of information, though you may prefer to buy a more recent edition such as The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC: Athens to Beijing, 1894-2008 (Official History of the Olympic Games & the Ioc). Having already bought this one, I won't be in a hurry to buy it, since all the information I might need about subsequent Olympics should be available on the internet.

Readable, Practical and Definitive
This book was purchased as a gift for an aspiring Beijing 2008 Olympic decathlete, and I was extremely pleased with its concise content, historical data, illustrations, and overall presentation.
A great reference book and a perfect "coffee-table" book. Thankyou.

Worthwhile, though challenging reading
A decent retrospective of over a century of Olympic history. It is not a smooth read, though, and you will need to take frequent breaks to rest your eyes due to the small type. I also noticed several errors in the statistical information in the back of the book, which the author claims was done by a third-party. It was still a worthwhile purchase and does enhance my Olympic library. ... Read more

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The 1908 Olympic Games were controversial. There was almost constant bickering among the American team and the British officials. Because of the controversies, the 1908 Olympics have been termed "The Battle of Shepherd's Bush," referring to the site of the Olympic Stadium. Reports of the 1908 Olympics have been rare and do not for instance contain full results for archery, track and field athletics, football (soccer), gymnastics, motorboating and shooting. A great deal of new information has been discovered by the authors, and this work gives complete results for all events. The information presented is based primarily on 1908 sources. For the first time, definitive word on the sites, dates, events, competitors, and nations as well as the event results are available for all of the 1908 Olympic events, including boxing, cycling, diving, fencing, field hockey, lacrosse, polo, raquets, swimming, lawn tennis, tug-of-war, weightlifting, wrestling and yachting, among other sports. A series of appendices include rarely seen information about the many controversies surrounding the Games. ... Read more

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During the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, much of the world watched and celebrated as athletes broke world records and took home medals, fulfilling their Olympic dreams. The athletes' scores were available instantaneously and are now easily accessible, but what about the performance records of the first modern Olympic athletes? The Modern Olympic Games began in 1896 in Athens, Greece, but an official record of these Olympic games does not exist. This work is the first in a series of comprehensive reference works giving the results of the Olympic Games, beginning in 1896. Based primarily on 1896 sources, the sites, dates, events, competitors, and nations as well as the event results are compiled herein for track and field, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis (lawn), weightlifting, wrestling and other sports and events. Although mainly a statistical analysis, this work does include a short synopsis of the Sorbonne Congress and reprints of famous articles about the Olympics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Amazing and spectacular
For the lovers of the olympic history this is a true and unique source of information. It is really amazing to find dates and other stories about
the first Olympic Games of the Modern Era who never before I have seen anywhere.
If you like the history of the olympic games you CAN NOT miss it.

The most complete summary of the 1896 Olympics
This work has everything you might want to know about the 1896 Olympic Games: results, back ground stories, statistics, competitor information. The best part is that all controversies on the results - quite a few - are carefully documented so one can see WHY the authors have listed the results as they did. Also, several contemporary articles on the Games give a good picture of these Olympic Games. Because these texts are original, you can once again read and judge yourself. ... Read more

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The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis were both unusual and controversial. One of the major problems for Olympic scholars has been to determine which of the events at these Games were truly of Olympic caliber. The Games were included as part of the World's Fair, and every athletic contest that took place under the Fair's auspices was deemed "Olympic." These activities included croquet and water polo, high school and college championships in football and basketball, as well as the "Anthropology Days" events in which members of "primitive" "tribes" competed against one another. The author demonstrates, after great deliberation, that 16 events of the 21 overall were truly Olympic sports and gives descriptions, scores, and analyses for each (as well as for the five non-Olympic events). Appendices include literature relating to these games, lists of noncompeting foreign entrants, and a guide to all competitors. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A needed work for an obscure yet first American olympic game
Author Mallon gives a textbook account of the 1904 first American Olympic Game. The individual scorings are meticulously done and the bibliography is most complete. Anyone researching this event has an array of sources at hisdisposal. The only fault here is in the lack of pictures of this eventlogo, its outstanding competitors, and local color scenes.This workhowever does fill an important gap in the usual commentary on modernolympic history. ... Read more