Product Description
A visual tour of the history of the modern Olympic Games uses a chronological newspaper-style format that gives facts in the present tense, placing reader in the period of Olympic events from their 1896 inception through the 1996 games. 50,000 first printing.Amazon.com Review
Atlanta 1996 marks the centenary of the modern Olympic Games.Featuring more than 750 spectacular photographs by top sports journalists, this book brings to life every Summer and Winter Olympic Games since Athens 1896.Witness the triumphs -- Jesse Owens' four gold medal wins at the 1936 Berlin Games, Mark Spitz winning seven golds at the 1972 Munich Games -- and the disappointments --Ben Johnson being stripped of his 100-meter gold at the 1988 Seoul Games. Entertaining and nostalgic, Chronicle of the Olympics also features a comprehensive appendix listing the competitive events and medalists since the beginning of the Games. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Comprehensive and informative...
A very good coffee-table book about the Olympic Games.Excellent photography, text, and results of all the Olympic Games.

If you're looking for one book to have in your collection, this is an excellent choice.I hope there will be an update in the future!

For Olympics buffs
A real compendium of information for the armchair buff or visiting Olympics spectator. Each Olympic games, both summer and winter is covered. It is lavishly illustrated - the stories are told via the pictures which are all well-captioned.

As well, there is a comprehensive list of results (Gold Silver and Bronze medal winners) for every event in every games.

This is the definitive Olympics compendium and I thoroughly recommend it.

The reference i was looking for
A great book for anybody looking to get a reference for the olympic games.Long time back i was looking for the same but i got nothing, now " TheOlympic Games " gave me the chance. The result of all competitions inthe entire summer and winter olympics really comprehensive, text andpictures were useful and enjoyable. I feel no sorry that i got thisreference.

Howzat! A hole in one!
A great little book which covers all aspects of the even greater Olympic games - great for reference, casual reading or if you just love the odd nutty fact! A must for sea-farers (great sailing section) ... Read more

Product Description
Anticipating a boring summer before meeting energetic cycling enthusiast Red Roberts, Dough Cannon helps out with the construction of a new bike path and overcomes his personal demons in order to become a young athlete. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Book Review

The book Olympic Dreamis about a kid named Doug Cannan.He's a fourteen year-old boy and is in the eight grade.Doug's the goalie for his school hockey team.Slowly he's growing into a self confident person.Doug plays video games all the time at an arcade across the street from his house.Sadly, he has kids call him `'wide body''which he doesn't like and it hurts his feelings.

Doug lives in a small town somewhere in the United States.The time that this story took place in was in the 1990's.In Doug's family there are his mom, dad, and his sister,that is a lot older than him.

Doug's older sister, Kate, is getting married to Terry.Terry's friend, Red, was in town for their wedding.Red almost made the U.S.A. Cycling Team, and he loves to ride for fun.When the arcade across the street burned down, Doug needed something to keep him busy during the summer.

Doug asked Red if he could go to the cycling club with Red.Once Doug arrived at the club, he noticed that all the guys who did cycling were fit.He got on the bike and started to ride down the track.On the downhill and even parts of the track, it was easy for him, but on the uphill climbs, it was difficult.As doug kept practicing, the more he enjoyed it.

Again his weight was a factor in the hard parts of the rides, but he still liked it when he finished his workout.The first couple of races were a little disappointing.As Doug trained until he couldn't do anymore, it paid off.When Doug went to more races and did better and better, something amazing happened.He was accepted to participate in the State Championships.He won all because he trained and trained.

The main point this author made was to say that if you have to work for it, it just can't come to you easily.My opinion of the book is that it is a good, enjoyable book.I can't say that it will be the best book I will ever read, but it is a good book.What I liked about this story was that the topics are very interesting.The cycling part my dad does for fun and so do I.

I would like to recommendthis book for boys and girls, ages 6-13, even though it is about a guy.The kids that would like it would like sports books, also.I had an enjoyable time reading this book.If you read it, I hope you will like it, too.

olympic dream
I thought this book was an exciting book because in every part of the book there was something happening. I also liked it because it had a lot init about biking and how to get started in biking with out showing it directly. It also showed that if your a kind of lazy person who just sits and watches television all the time that you can get out and do something to make yourself proud like doug did on the book.

Astonishing Olympic Dream
Olympic Dream by Matt Christopher is an extremely amusing, in my opinion.This book takes place in a small town in the U.S., late 1980's.It is about an adolescent boy. Doug, who meets a man, Red, that completely changes his life.They become friends and Red teaches Doug to ride a bike. The reasons I am recommending this book are, that the author was very descriptive on every part including the characters and setting.He went into superb detail about each characters personality.He described the setting which was the town so that you could visualize it as you were reading it.For instance he described the arcade and old wooden shack with 6 arcade machines each costing a quarter to play.He also made this book have a wonderful moral.This book teachers a lesson that stuck in my head and sticks in others heads too.The moral was never give up and never stop trying.Even though he described the book well he didn't describe it enough to make it boring. Some people say that the problem with this book is that there wasn't a main character.That can be exceptional or miserable but in my opinionthat is extraordinary.I think having more than one main character is remarkable because the story isn't focused on one person but on three or four people.This makes the story more absorbing.The three main characters lives all connect.One is the best man in Doug's sisters wedding.Doug is taught to ride a bike by Red (the best man) and they all support each other and it shows different points of view.

READ THIS BOOK!!!!!
This book was fantastic! It really explains how to become a true Olympian. I really encourage people to read this great book! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Book.

A very informative and interesting book.If you're into history, you won't be disappointed.

A good account of the 1936 Olympic Games
The Berlin Olympics of 1936 was perhaps the first games in which politics played a significant role.For this reason, it is considered to be one of the most controversial Olympic Games of modern times.But it was not just the politics of the Third Reich that cast it's shadow over the Games - other politicial considerations, particularly with regard to racial tensions, both Jewish and Black, made its mark.Surprisingly, the Jewish question was brought to bear on not only the selection of the German team, but also the American, in what must surely be a surprise to most readers.The long running dispute between "amateur" and "professional" athletes also raises its head.Hilton delves into each of these issues and how they came to bear upon the Games.The organization of the Games is also discussed, including Hitler's dominance of the process.

Of course, the Games is not just backroom politics.After all, it is the world's largest sporting event, and the sporting participants and their endeavors come under scrutiny. The star of the Games was undoubtedly Jesse Owens.But Hilton has also thrown the spotlight on other athletic notables, including the lesser lights of the American track and field team, along with Hendrika Mastenbroek, whose efforts in the pool were largely overlooked, despite winning 3 golds.There is passing comment on the gender controversy between Helen Stephens and Stella Walsh, two track athletes competing for Britain and Poland respectively.It is not just the athlete's sporting endeavors that is discussed by Hilton, but also what became of many of them afterwards.

A previous reviewer has commented on the style of the author's writing: "And that was the seventh day."I too found this tedious.Christopher Hilton has almost informal style at times to his writing.While it works for his racing car driver biographies (his books "Ayrton Senna: The Hard Edge of Genuis" and "Alain Prost" are superb) it does not come off so well here.It should have been toned down in my opinion.Nonetheless, this is really a minor bugbear."Hitler's Olympics" is a good account of the 1936 Berlin Games and is well worth a look for an insight into the personalities, politics and competitive endeavors of one of the most controversial Olympic Games ever. At the conclusion of the book, there is a statistics section, which lists the medal winners of the Games, along with comparisons (where possible) to the 2004 Athens Games. "Hitler's Olympics" also includes an insert of black and white photography.

Excellent book
This was a very well written book. I enjoyed the person stories of some of the athltes. What I did not like was some of the more choppy sections with sentences like "And that was the second day" or "And on the 15th the Fins arrived". While it did allude to the timing of everything, it seemed a bit choppy.

Overall, I would highly reccomend the book, it was an informative and entertaining read. ... Read more

Product Description
This book examines, from a legal perspective, the numerous developments in the rules and institutions of the Olympic Games from antiquity to the modern day. It offers a well-informed and insightful explanation of the Lex Olympica, and analyses the legal and institutional aspects that arise in the Olympic Movement (OM), such as its definition, composition and general organisation, its three principal constituents, its three satellite organisations and its organs. Furthermore, it addresses contemporary legal questions and inherent consequences the OM encounters, such as eligibility criteria, legal protection of the Olympic symbol, protection of the environment, advertising and ambush marketing, athletes' freedom of expression and Olympic boycotts. ... Read more

Product Description
Since the revival of the Olympic Games in 1896, the Olympics have grown to be among the most anticipated and watched events of any type in world. Today, almost 200 nations send athletes to participate in the Games and over a billion people watch on television. Just as the Olympics have grown, so has the collecting of Olympic memorabilia. Quite possibly the most international and fastest growing of sports hobbies, the exciting world of Olympic memorabilia includes pins, badges, medals, torches, posters, tickets, programs, books, souvenir items, and so much more. Included here are items from the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, through the games of 2000. Both Summer and Winter Olympic memorabilia is covered. With over 500 color photographs and an up-to-date price guide, this is the most complete Olympic memorabilia book available anywhere in the world. The perfect guide for any level of collector. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A bible
This book has been a great resource for me as a collector. I wish i had discovered it sooner. ... Read more

Product Description
Beginning readers will cheer such events as the Deepest Hole Contest, the High Hurdle (with five intrepid snail participants), the Smelliest Skunk Contest, and the River-cross Freestyle. And when it's over, everyone will agree that the Mud Flat Olympics have been perfect. Let the games begin! "Art and text work together beautifully in a goofy bit of entertainment that crackles with sly comedy."--Booklist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A wonderful, funny book
My children and I have recently discovered James Stevenson's books, and this one is our favorite by far!The humor is offbeat, which makes it fun to read for both kids and adults.The illustrations are fun.Even though the drawings are simple, the expressions on the faces of the animals convey so much.The illustrations add to the humor of the book.

lots of fun
James Stevenson is not your typical kid's book writer but that is why I like him. He's sweet without being sappy and there's a storyline with just enough tension for little kids. These are great, loose drawings andcharacters you can love. Read his other books, too, like The Worst booksand the Grandpa books, and Monty.

(head shake)
I am a fanatic for children's books.My husband and I read one or two per day every day, partly because we write them and partly because we simply enjoy reading them.There are wonderful ones out there.Unfortunately,this is not one of them.I don't often bad-mouth a book and try to giveonly good reviews, but this one is an exception.It is poorly written(consensus of the household on this one) and is not a book I'd recommend toa person wanting to buy a quality children's book.Perhaps this author hasbetter ones, but this one doesn't "fly" with us.Frankly, I'msurprised it got a good review from someone else.I'm through complainingnow.:)

A cheerful, witty book for kids and parents
We love this book. The drawings are perfect--they're loopy, full of character, and with just the right amount of detail and color, not overworked like so many children's-book illustrations. We love the story, the dialogue, and the names--regular human names for these creatures, who act just like your neighbors and friends. Who would have thought that a snail has a personality? We like all the chapters, but the one we keep acting out is the Smelliest Skunk Contest. Franklin is so cute and Mr. Tokay still has what it takes. We kept checking Mud Flat Olympics out of the library until I (mom) decided it was about time to have our own copy. ... Read more

Product Description

Already the world has seen the political, economic, and cultural significance of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing—in policies instituted and altered, positions softened, projects undertaken. But will the Olympics make a lasting difference? This book approaches questions about the nature and future of China through the lens of sports—particularly as sports finds its utmost international expression in the Olympics.

Drawing on newly available archival sources to analyze a hundred-year perspective on sports in China, Olympic Dreams explores why the country became obsessed with Western sports at the turn of the twentieth century, and how it relates to China’s search for a national and international identity. Through case studies of ping-pong diplomacy and the Chinese handling of various sporting events, the book offers unexpected details and unusual insight into the patterns and processes of China’s foreign policymaking—insights that will help readers understand China’s interactions with the rest of the world.

Among the questions Xu Guoqi brings to the fore are: Why did Mao Zedong choose competitive ping-pong to manipulate world politics? How did the two-China issue nearly kill the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games? And why do the 2008 Olympics present Beijing with unprecedented dangers and opportunities? In exploring these questions, Xu brilliantly articulates a fresh and surprising perspective on China as an international sport superpower as well as a new “sick man of East Asia.” In Olympic Dreams, he presents an eloquent argument that in the deeply unsettled China of today, sport, as a focus of popular interest, has the capacity to bring about major social changes.

Product Description
Inspired by long walks and extended backcountry trips on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, Mary Peck's contemplative photographs evoke the stillness and balance one can find by slowing down and simply paying attention. Neither idealized nor nostalgic, Peck's photographs point toward beauty and hope in a landscape that has suffered its share of environmental indignities, yet still carries the powerful mystery of wildness into an uncertain future.

Charles Wilkinson's illuminating essay traces historical attitudes toward land and water in the American West, and reflects on the now-outmoded laws that have governed development for nearly two centuries. With the impending removal of two dams, erected on the Elwha River almost one hundred years ago, wild salmon, long prevented from reaching upstream spawning areas, are about to return and restore their ancient runs on one of the most diverse and productive streams in the country.

Images and text afford us glimpses of the primeval power that still lingers in this wild place. Peck’s meditations on the roadless ocean beaches, the emerald river valleys with their old-growth temperate rain forests, and the denuded hillsides urge the reader to acknowledge the less tangible values we must consider in managing our natural resources. ... Read more

Product Description
This book deals with whether the 2008 Olympics brought any benefits, or any lasting benefits, to the Chinese people by enhancing human rights and accelerating rule of law development. China views the 2008 Olympics as not merely just an athletic event, but as recognition of its global, economic, diplomatic, and military power. It is a way of extending themselves to the world. It is, to them, a political event in many ways, and one of great significance. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

The Man Who Led The Way...
Frank Shorter's 1984 "Olympic Gold" is perhaps too understated for its own good.To the average reader, this may seem like a fairly standard athlete autobiography.For those who remember the times, Frank Shorter's dramatic and surprising marathon victory at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games helped ignite mass interest in the United States in long distance running as a competitive event and as a vehicle for personal fitness.Shorter didn't create the running boom of the 1970's, but he surely helped lead the way.

"Olympic Gold" chronicles Shorter's rise from above-average prep school runner to promising collegiate runner to world class athlete.U.S. athletes had been virtual no-shows in long distance running for decades; Shorter was one of a group of young runners who invested the time and milage to become internationally ranked in the 1970's.Shorter himself, along with Steve Prefontaine, was one of a rare breed who were truly competitive at distances from two miles to the marathon.

Shorter went beyond the racing to push the envelope on obsolete restrictions on amateurism in the United States.Thanks in significant degree to his pioneering advocacy, U.S. runners can now be paid for their appearences at races and can earn money through endorsements.Shorter himself helped pay for his training by marketing a line of clothing specifically adapted to running.

Shorter and his contemporaries are all long since retired from competitive running, but his biography makes for an interest time capsule, full of insights on the making of the running boom of the 1970's.This book is highly recommended to those who lived that era, or may be curious about it.

There Is No Finish Line
Frank Shorter is perhaps the greatest American distance runner ever and he fought hard with a group of athletes to break the monopoly the archaic AAU had on governing track & field. A gold medalist in the 1972 Munich Olympic marathon, Shorter was cheated of a repeat victory in 1976 when it was revealed years later that the East German winner was on a state-regulated steroids regime.

It was a time long before the running boom and Shorter - along with Steve Prefontaine and a handful of others - was a catalyst to bring the sport to the streets and trails of this country. At one point, Shorter's father had to drive "shotgun" while he trained due to being frequently harassed by a group of punks.

Shorter was also one of the first American track athletes to start his own clothing line, and the book traces the hurdles he had in getting the project off the ground. While in a dispute with the manufacturer, the clothing line that was stored in a warehouse was stripped of the company logo and repackaged for sale under another runner's brand name!

His dispute with Bill Rodgers is also candidly dealt with, though both have patched up their differences since the book was published in the early 1980s.

Runners who came of age after Shorter retired from international competition will appreciate the history lesson. Those who laced up the shoes before or during the early stages of the running boom will enjoy a trek down memory lane.

Review of Olympic Marathoner Frank Shorter's LIfe
Pretty good detail on Frank Shorter's rise from a pretty fair HS distance runner to a versatile athlete that could run national and world class 5Ks, 10Ks and marathons. He and Prefontaine kicked off the running boom. Shorter was part of the great USA running elite and central character in the outstanding Florida Track Club. Also, detail in his fight to establish more control of the American track athlete's rights to compete from the then AAU and the now TAC. Although I enjoyed the book I found it a bit choppy. It reminded me of a telling told in a series of interviews that sometimes overlap in detail. I think a greater collaberation would have been more effective if Kenny Moore (Sports Illustrated writer and 4th place USA finisher to Shorter's gold) wrote it with Shorter.

A Very Fun Read
I have a copy of this book at home autographed by Frank himself, and I've enjoyed it immensely.Some people might find it a bit dated.It covers Frank's days at Yale U. when he decided to work harder at running to seehow good he could get.It follows his post-graduate days, his training,the other famous runners he hung out with (from roughly 1969 to 1972), thenthere is an extensive write up on his 1972 Olympic gold medal and hediscusses each stage of the race.The book I have was written before the1976 Oympics, where he won the silver medal (beat by Waldemar Cierpinskifrom the GDR who was alegedly under performance enhancing drugs).Anyway,the book is a very fun read, lest we forget that Frank Shorter"invented" running and with the help of ABC's Roone Arledge,created the massive running boom that started after his victory, sustainedthroughout the 70's and still continues today.I still think he is thegreatest long distance runner the USA has ever turned out.This book, morelike a pamphlet than a hardbound tome, is still inspiring and great fun toread.It has lots and lots of pictures, all in black and white. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Ask most Olympians how their story begins and they will answer, "When I was young, I always dreamed of going to the Olympics. . ."Some will then go on to tell of their great athletic triumphs. Others will recall agonizing near-misses. But for most, the very fact that they reached the Games at all was a dream come true.For the Olympic Games offer athletes something few others sporting events can: the chance to be recognized as the best in the world at a chosen sport.

With stories of great triumphs and great tragedies, the Olympics not only embodies the competitive human spirit, but also sets a stage stage for foreign relations and politics. Historical references combined with amazing sports stories give this book both an educational and exciting appeal. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

The five rings of competition

It took some years for the Olympic rings to make an appearance on a poster.Hugo Laubi designed one for the 1928 Winter Olympics at Saint Moritz where the rings appeared for the first time on a white flag.They had been around since 1912 when Pierre de Coubertin thought of the design.The interlocking circles have to be one of the world's great logos, simple, elegant and recognized everywhere.

Since 1928 the rings appear on most Olympic posters, either as part of the design or discretely as part of the capitol and country text, usually at the bottom of the sheet.I doubt it could get any smaller than for the Sydney 2000 games, small enough to miss completely.Oddly, I thought, there are no posters in the book with the logo as the totally dominant theme of a poster.The nearest use like this is the Montreal 1976 one designed by Ernst Roch and Rolf Harder.The poster looks wonderful with the rings having a slightly pulsating look on a white background.

Margaret Timmers knows her stuff because she has written a very knowledgeable and comprehensive survey of the games and each poster.The 150 in the book take the story right up to date with the London 2012 logo as the last one.I don't think it's until the sixties that the poster designs start to be vibrant and exciting.Yusaku Kamekura's stunning sprint start photo for Tokyo 1964 games maybe inspired other designers to come up with great designs in the following decades.I always wonder if the bureaucracy of the IOC stifles creativity, they have to please and not offend anyone.

I thought this was an interesting and thorough book that'll interest designers and others who work in an international graphics arena.

***LOOK INSIDE THE BOOK by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

A Century of Olympic Posters
I collect various Olympic items including Olympic Posters.This is a good introduction of Olympic Posters. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by veteran trail-guide author Erik Molvar, Hiking Olympic National Park, formerly The Trail Guide to Olympic National Park, describes a 585-mile network of maintained trails in a wilderness ecosystem that stretches from the beaches of the Pacific to the heart of the Olympic Mountains.The trails provide a full spectrum of challenges, from strenuous backpacking trips over glacier-clad mountains to short strolls through a temperate rainforest. Hiking Olympic National Park includes mile-by-mile descriptions, maps, and elevation charts for each trail.This comprehensive guidebook is organized to help you plan your trips and includes an index to all the topographic maps you will need as well as tips on no-trace camping and wilderness safety techniques. Hiking Olympic National Park is an indispensable part of your next trip into the wilds of the Olympic Peninsula. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Have a second source on hand
In the 2008 edition the directions to the Royal Basin trailhead were entirely wrong.Not confusing, just wrong. The US Forest Service roads are poorly marked and maze-like. The road maps in this area are not great. Therefor, the book failed us hugely. We wasted 2 hours and gas driving on gravel roads because the book failed to mention that we make a right turn early on and told us to avoid a road that in fact we needed to be on. Be sure to go to the USNPS/USFS ranger stations for accurate directions as well as (in the USFS case) permits to park your car.As a minor note, this book, unlike others, is very dry.It does not tell you at the outset of each trail description, why you'd want to take the trail.Personally, I'd look for another book.At the very least,have a second opinion on directions.

hiking book
This book was great. It gave us detailed information to the trail heads. We liked how the book was seperated into sections of the peninsula.This helped us plan our trip.We hiked 10 of the hikes.We couldn't have done it without the book.

Disjointed, confusing, and incommodious.
This book is the proverbial "can't see the forest through the trees."Way too much minutia and nothing close to the big picture.Long dissertations describe every step of the way about trees and plants - and then some more on the trees - on long (30-40 miles) hikes, but with very poor descriptions about the magnificent outdoors in the great northwest.Couple that with a serious lack of good maps, along with dreadfully vague information on where/what - makes for an aggravating read.I have 30 years of experience as a bush pilot but trying to navigate through this book makes hiking preparation a laborious chore.

needs a rev, focused too much on backpacking
Decent overview but hard to comprehend if you've never been there.Poor maps, little on the visitor center and tourist areas.Great if you have a topo and have been there before.Not great if it's your first visit.

Slightly Misleading Information...
Although I am a huge fan of Falcon guides, this edition definitely let me down.Unfortunately it doesn't differentiate between Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest trails.This becomes a big deal when you spend a significant amount of time planning your trip only to arrive at the trailhead and find that you need an Olympic National Forest permit, because the trailhead parking falls in the national forest, not the national park, and you need to drive back 15 miles to get one.If you are prepared with a National Parks pass, not a National Forest pass, this is definitely frustrating.In fact, a significant number of trails in the book are in the national forest, not the national park.Because this is an older book (1995) it also doesn't include some of the nicer Falcon guide features found in the newer books like the trails being broken down into categories in the beginning based on the types of features the trail has (i.e. waterfalls versus alpine meadows).It also doesn't include any attempt at topo maps, which is a definite downside.I'm still a fan of the Falcon guides, but I think I'll stick to the ones that are more recently published from now on... ... Read more

Product Description
Traces the history of baseball as an Olympic sport. ... Read more