Books

The Olympics

Sanyat Sattar

The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics
David Wallechinsky
Sportclassic Books; July 2004

The gold medal for chronicling the modern Olympics, at every Olympiad since the Los Angeles Summer Games of 1984, has gone to renowned historian David Wallechinsky. His Magnus opus, The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics, has been called the "Bible of the Olympics." Completely updated for the 2004 Athens Games, this ultimate reference book contains all-time Olympic records, statistics and medal standings, as well as results of the top eight finishers in every Olympic event from 1896 to 2000. It also carries, in Wallechinsky's colourful narrative style, a complete history of the Games plus the inside stories of the major competitors and events in each and every Olympiad.

The Olympic Games
DK Publishing Inc
DK Publishing Inc; May 2004

The Olympic tradition began in ancient Greece as early as 776 BC. The first modern games were held in Athens, more than two millennia later in 1896. In this summer the Games returned to the country of their birth. This updated edition previews the historic Games, and covers the beautiful venues, inspiring athletes, and the spectacle surrounding the world's greatest sporting event. Features include an index of important facts as well as detailed statistical information about every medal winner since the first modern games. Covering 44 Olympiads over a century, stunning action photos taken by top sports journalists capture the true spirit of the games.

The Ancient Olympics: A History
Nigel Spivey
Oxford University Press; August 2004

The word 'athletics' is derived from the Greek verb 'to struggle or to suffer for a prize.' As Nigel Spivey reveals in this engaging account of the Olympics in ancient Greece, 'suffer' is putting it mildly. Indeed, the Olympics were not so much a graceful display of Greek beauty as a war fought by other means. Nigel Spivey paints a portrait of the Greek Olympics as they really were--fierce contexts between bitter rivals, in which victors won kudos and rewards, and losers faced scorn and even assault. The author explores what the events were, the rules for competitors, training and diet, the pervasiveness of cheating and bribery, the prizes on offer, the exclusion of 'barbarians,' and protocols on pederasty. He also peels back the mythology surrounding the games today and investigates where our current conception of the Olympics has come from and how the Greek notions of beauty and competitiveness have influenced our modern culture. Anyone interested in the ancient world or in the Olympic Games will be fascinated by this revealing history.

(sanyatsattar@hotmail.com)