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Why is hosting the Olympic Games so important to China? What is the significance of a quintessential symbol of Western civilization taking place in the heart of the Far East? Will the Olympics change China, or will China change the Olympics? Susan Brownell sets the historical and cultural contexts for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Games by placing it within the context of China's hundred-year engagement with the Olympic movement to illuminate what the Games mean to China and what the Beijing Olympic Games will mean for China's relationship with the outside world. Brownell's deeply informed analysis ranges from nineteenth-century orientalism to Cold War politics and post-Cold War _China bashing._ Drawing on her more than two decades of engagement in Chinese sports, the author presents evocative stories and first-person accounts to paint a human picture of the passion that many Chinese people feel for the Olympic Games. It will also be essential reading for journalists and sports enthusiasts who want to understand the fascinating story behind the Beijing Olympics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An American Anthropologist with keen attention to the Beijing Games
Susan Brownell has approached the topic of the Beijing Olympics with the seriousness which it deserves.As an anthropologist, historian, and athlete who has lived in and competed in China, she approaches the topic with professional dispatch, as well as personal knowledge.Susan has confronted the Bob Costa stereotypes about Chinese athletes over the past decade, and brings her arguments together in seven succinct chapters.Because of her professional relationship with International Olympic Committee member He Zhenliagn, Ms. Brownell's insights into motivation, goals, and obstacles are substantive.She accomplishes her goal of providing comprehensive analysis of the Olympic Movement in context of the imminent prospect of the world stage turning to the Beijing Olympics.I would urge all journalists who intend to write about their experiences in Beijing to prepare themselves by studying Susan's excellent text.

Very good reading
Reviewed by Lori Plach for Reader Views (2/08)

Why were the Chinese people all excited when it was announced that the 2008 Summer Olympics would be held in Beijing? Why was it so important to them? Sure, it is a major boost to their economy. What with all the people from all over the world coming to China to cheer on their children or country's athletes. It is more than money and people that will come to Beijing this year. It will be a first in all the years of the modern-day Olympics.China has never hosted an Olympic Games. China is not known to have many Olympic champions; in the last few Olympic Games, China has accomplished their first medals of any color, including Gold.

Susan Brownell has written a brief history book about China and its customs as well as an explanation about what impact, more than financial, these Olympics will bring to Beijing and China itself. The author uses her personal experience as a previous exchange student to China to bring her book to life. She has even competed in athletic events with Chinese women and can bring their stories about not having the advantages that men have. In recent years, more has come out about possible doping in order to make better athletes achieve even higher; she addresses some of the issues of performance enhancing drugs.

For anyone who will be watching any of the 2008 Olympic Games from Beijing this book is very good reading. Through the pages of "Beijing's Games," you will learn more about this Olympics history, host country, host city and invitation to be the "people's Olympics."
... 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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IN SOMETHING IN THE AIR, Richard Hoffer has written a gripping sports narrative that brilliantly tells the individual stories of the unforgettable athletes who gathered in Mexico City in 1968, a year of dramatic upheaval around the world.

Those Olympics caught the revolutionary spirit of the times. In these pages, Hoffer captures the turbulence and offbeat heroism of that historic Olympiad, which was as rich in inspiring moments as it was drenched in political and racial tension. This was a year that saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy; racial rioting in the nation's big cities; the upheaval at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago; growing revulsion toward the war in Vietnam; an inspiring bid for freedom in Czechoslovakia, which was crushed by Soviet tanks; and student demonstrations seemingly everywhere, including, fatefully, in Mexico City itself.

Racial tensions were high on the U.S. Olympic team, where inflamed black athletes had to choose between demands for justice on one hand and loyalty to country on the other. No one had easy choices.

Although the basketball star Lew Alcindor (later to become the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) decided not to participate, heavyweight boxer George Foreman not only competed and won a gold medal, but waved a miniature American flag at foreign judges. The sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos became as famous for their raised-fist gestures of protest as their speed on the track. No one was prepared for Bob Beamon's long jump, which broke the world record by a staggering twenty-two inches. And then there was Dick Fosbury, the goofball high jumper whose backward, upside-down approach to the bar (the "Fosbury Flop") baffled his coaches while breaking records. Though Fosbury was his own man, he was apolitical and easygoing. He didn't defy authority; he defied gravity.

These were a complicated Olympics -- no longer a reliably reassuring sporting event, a respite from world events. Not only was the 1968 Olympics a forum for youthful protest, it was a platform for the lingering racism that divided a nation. The generational contest that was working itself out in the culture back home was exploding in Mexico City. Everything was up for grabs. Professionalism was suddenly overtaking this last outpost of amateurism, the media was piggybacking a newly inflated spectacle, nations tussled as usual for international attention. And all the while, a bunch of kids were pitting their interests against the world's, weighing performance against politics, in one of the most exciting sporting events of the twentieth century.

Witty, insightful, and filled with human drama, Something in the Air mixes Shakespearean complexity with Hollywood sentimentality, sociopolitical significance, and the exhilarating spectacle of youthful physical prowess. It is a powerful, unforgettable tale that will resonate with sports fans and readers of social history alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A good rough draft....
The Washington Post's review (above) gives a full overview of the tumultuous events and fascinating personalities described in "Something In The Air".To Richard Hoffer's credit, he interviewed a great number of them and is able to provide readers with many interesting anecdotes. But... then one begins to encounter numerous factual errors (not to mention many typos and carelessly written sentences). The latter are merely annoying; the former, the factual errors, are startling coming from a long-time Sports Illustrated writer.And they make one wonder if he was equally careless - and simply inaccurate - in recounting the recollections of those he interviewed.
Examples: He credits Ray Norton with a "100 meter time of 9.3 seconds".Nope, 100 yards.
He says Jim Ryun was 5 meters behind Keino at the 800 mark in the 1,500 and says "the race had gotten away from him."Yes, it had - but because he was actually 18 meters back, according to Track and Field News's report on the race. Five meters would not have been a big gap, as a sportswriter surely should know.
He writes at length about Dick Fosbury's winning performance in the high jump and says that the first marathoner, Mamo Wolde, was just entering the stadium as Fosbury began his approach. His point: The appearance of the marathon winner usually got huge applause but did not in this case because of the crowd's focus on Fosbury. But Hoffer goes on to describe the reaction of Kenny Moore, the American who finished over 9 minutes behind Wolde. He says Moore was coming on the track when Fosbury jumped and reacted with delight to the crowd's cheering for Fosbury's leap.So... Fosbury's run-up took over 9 minutes?
Concerning Fosbury's revolutionary flop style of jumping, Hoffer says: "Neither his jump nor the straddle was inherently superior." Yet every single world class jumper for decades has used only the "Flop" as have virtually all jumpers at every level.
He has the high jump bar going up "quarter inch by quarter inch" which he says is "actually 5 centimeters".But, as his own context on the same page shows, each 5 centimeter elevation was close to 2 inches.
In one sentence Hoffer has Lynn Davies winning gold in the broad jump in '64 and Ralph Boston winning silver - and Igor Ter Ovanesian beating Boston there by 4 centimeters. Where did Ter Ovanesian place? 1 1/2?
He mentions "pole vaulter John Thomas" - who was actually a great high jumper -and "Bob Beamon the high jumper" even though he later writes at length about Beamon's awesome long jumping.
He says "Bob Beamon's father was in Sing Sing when he was conceived...."Well, not unless they had conjugal visits in those days, which I seriously doubt.
He locates San Jose as north of Sacramento.
He twice mentions the great '50s basketball player Paul Arizon - a career sportswriter who doesn't know how to spell the name of an all-time great: Arizin.
In describing the anchor leg of the 4x200 relay in swimming he says: "So what was supposed to be a Spitz-Schollander duel...." - which would have been quite a feat since they were both on the U.S. team.
These are some of those I caught.How many did I miss?Why didn't Hoffer, or someone at his publisher with a little knowledge of sports, proofread this book. And, as I said, was he as careless when he reported the recollections of Beamon, Carlos, et al?
I'm disappointed since I followed the events of that year closely.I wrote a letter to Track and Field News early in the year sympathising with those considering a possible boycott. (It's available on-line, plus I still have the issue from '68 - not a prettied up memory.) I began this book with high expectations. Some were met but the inexcusable lack of fact-checking and proofreading made me doubt the over-all accuracy of Hoffer's reporting.

Solid, not spectacular view of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics
I got interested in this book while reading an excerpt in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated.I had extremely high hopes for this book, but was somewhat disappointed.Being born in 1970, I obviously have no personal recollection of the 1968 Olympics, but long remembered hearing about Bob Beamon's historic long jump and Tommie Smith and John Carlos' defiance on the medal stand.The opportunity to learn even more about the Mexico City against the backdrop of the turbulence and upheaval that was 1968 was irrestible.

My main criticism of Hoffer's book is that it is quite uneven.There are some strong parts, specifically the chapters about Fosbury, Smith and Carlos.On the other hand, his coverage of Beamon and Foreman did not provide nearly the depth and dimension that I expected and was a letdown when compared to the previously mentioned athletes.By far the most enlightening part of the book centered on Avery Brundage, an American who was head of the IOC.Brundage tried to maintain iron-fisted control of the Games and keep absolute order in what was the first Olympics in a developing nation --- and before the vast commercialization that the Olympics have become today.

Overall, Hoffer's book is a solid contribution, but has enough holes to only be 4 stars.It is a quick read and contains enough back stories to be worth the time.

The summer of champions
Well lets start out by countinghow many political things were happenning that summer that had nothing to do with the actual sport of competing with other nationsbest track and Olympic stars in varioussports such as boxing with a young George Foreman walking around with an American flag.
Great human interest stories on the historic two weeks of competition and reviews of winners as well as the losers who trained their whole life for Olympic glory!
Its a facinating read for the olympic fan as well as stories of hyuman sacifice and training. i know that i could not put the book down as a quick paced style of writing.
Run for the gold and pick it up today.

Terrific read from Richard Hoffer
Well worth the time, this relatively brief look at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics gives the reader an enticing look into what may have been the first truly modern Games.The famous medal stand gloved protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos is given full treatment, but other revealing stories are told concerning George Foreman, Dick Fosbury (of the famous "Flop") and others.

A terrific read and highly recommended! ... Read more

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Licensed and supported by the U.S. Olympic Committee, The Olympic Factbook includes a thorough history of each of the winter sports, a spectator's guide with game rules and equipment requirements, complete statistics, poignant human interest stories, entertaining anecdotes, and enough compelling detail to satisfy even the most inquisitive home viewer or sidelines spectator. 75 photos. ... Read more

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A chronicle of the Olympics from ancient times to the present featuring the triumphs and disappointments of 1976. ... Read more

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A healthy indoor environment is an important attribute for all buildings, no less so theSydney Olympics venues which will cater for the world's elite athletes at the peak of theirperformance. Indoor Air Quality is accepted as a key design input for Sydney Olympicsstructures, products and services.However, the range of factors influencing Indoor AirQuality and the approaches to deal with them are complex and not easily prescribed.

This report provides guidelines for building designers/specifiers and material suppliers onthe major factors and control options important to Indoor Air Quality in Australianbuildings. As a guideline, it does not recommend specific courses of action but provides information from which appropriateactions can be decided. While focussed on the Sydney Olympic venues, the guidelinesare applicable to any buildings and will be useful to a diverse range of organisations andindividuals involved in the building industry. ... Read more

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William Baker opens by musing on the idea of Christ turning up unexpectedly at any time after his own lifetime, and the body of work this idea has spawned, including Levi's famous account of fascist Italy, Christ Stopped at Eboli. Baker examines the meaning of the Olympic Games in modern society, and how they depend on and have consequences for modern religion. He covers such topics as the religious origins of organized sport, the athletic pleasures of the flesh, when evangelicals take to the field, and going for gold and other false gods. If Christ Came to the Olympics is an entertaining and thorough examination of this most important of modern institutions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Makes watching the Olympics on TV 10 times more enjoyable.
I stumbled onto Bartges' previous book prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics. It's amazing how much more fun it is to watch an event on TV when you know what the rules are and what strategies the contestants are employing to win.One can easily imagine how this would help in those esoteric events such as biathalon, cross-country skiing and the like.However, he does a great job in clarifying the rules of more familiar sports such as ice hockey and ski-jumping.His illustrations in the chapter on figure skating finally solved for me the mystery of what the differences are between the axel, the lutz, the toe-loop, etc -- all of those jumps which used to look the same to me.His new book repeats much of the same information and includes even better illustrations.More significantly, it adds chapters on events which are new to the Winter Olympics in 1998, including curling, snowboarding and others.For less than the price of a pizza, the whole family can enhance their enjoyment of the entire Winter Olympics -- you don't find many bargains like that!!! ... Read more

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Puzzles, riddles, games, and brain teasers are based on the Olympic Games.

The sale of this product helps the U.S. Olympic Team. ... Read more

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A visually stunning, officially authorized portrait of the Olympic Games features more than three hundred photographs and special sections on the host city of Atlanta, as well as a complete listing of every athlete in the United States delegation. IP. ... Read more

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Published in the year that the Olympics return to Athens is the illuminating story of the making of the modern games. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Big Readable Paperweight
Television has always played a major role in the recent history of the Olympic Games.What alot of people don't realise is that the first television broadcast of this event was the infamous 1936 Berlin Games albeit via a closed circut network within the surrounding areas of the venues. The 1936 games were also the where the first lighting of the Olympic Flame began.

This is where Nigel Blundell picks up with the torch with a quick history of the games (politics, tragedy, drugs etc...)and a very comprehensve history of the results, medals etc with an overview of the stars of the games.

This book was printed before the XXVII Olympiad, 2000 Sydney Games but as it was intended as a complement to them, the venues and Sydney it'self are included in this large and rather heavy to hold and well illistrated book. ... Read more