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The Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event established for both summer and winter games. There have been two generations of the Olympic Games; the first were the Ancient Olympic Games (Greek: Olympiakoi Agones) held at Olympia, Greece. The second, known as the Modern Olympic Games, were first revived by the Greek philanthropist Evangelis Zappas in 1859 in Athens, Greece.In this research there is a presentation in Greek about the Olympic Games and all their documents and achievements. ... Read more

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Sports is a key cultural practice throughout the world that has evolved over the past century. This book seeks to enhance our understanding of global Olympic sporting culture through the publication of critically informed, interdisciplinary scholarship in history, sociology, cultural studies, political economy, international relations, and management. ... Read more

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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Publisher: ScribnerPublication date: 1908Subjects: OlympicsHistory / GeneralJuvenile Nonfiction / Sports ... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

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Athletics and politics collide in a critical event for Nazi Germany and the contemporary world.The torch relay—that staple of Olympic pageantry—first opened the summer games in 1936 in Berlin. Proposed by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry, the relay was to carry the symbolism of a new Germany across its route through southeastern and central Europe. Soon after the Wehrmacht would march in jackboots over the same terrain.

The Olympic festival was a crucial part of the Nazi regime's mobilization of power. Nazi Games offers a superb blend of history and sport. The narrative includes a stirring account of the international effort to boycott the games, derailed finally by the American Olympic Committee and the determination of its head, Avery Brundage, to participate. Nazi Games also recounts the dazzling athletic feats of these Olympics, including Jesse Owens's four gold-medal performances and the marathon victory of Korean runner Kitei Son, the Rising Sun of imperial Japan on his bib. 25 b/w photographs ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Well worth reading
A very well written book filled with about as much information about the 36 Olympics and the events leading up to it as anyone could have a right to expect. There's lots of various facts about the games, did you know that Jesse Owens was one of 19 Black American atheltes to participate in the games? Or that Owens felt more resentment against Roosevelt for failing to welcome him home after the games than against Hitler for refusing to shake his hand? However, if there is a villain in this piece, it's not Adolf Hitler, it's Avery Brundage, the head of the US Olympic committee and later the International Olympic Committee, who held steadfast against various efforts to boycott the 36 Games, and even removed 2 Jewish athletes from a US relay team just before the final event.

Brilliant overview of a watershed event
Historian David Clay Large has provided a brilliant overview of the carefully orchestrated machinations that went into producing the 1936 Berlin Olympics, a propaganda event meant to affirm the dominance of the so-called "master-race." Tracing out the development and planning of the 1936 games as well as the Olympic movement itself, Large leaves few stones unturned as he probes the way the Nazis twisted the symbolism of international sport to recast themselves as the modern embodiment of the ideals of the ancients. Large writes vividly, and although he is a serious scholar who knows this material as well as anyone alive, he never gets bogged down in minutiae. Reading 'Nazi Games' you feel as if you are right there in Berlin seeing the games as they really unfolded. Particularly chilling, for me, was Large's discussion of the surprisingly favorable way the 1936 Olympics were seen by many Americans, from Anne Morrow Lindbergh to Thomas Wolfe to respected writers for The New Yorker magazine. If you are interested in the history of the Nazi movement, the history of world sport, or just modern European history in general, this book is a must read.

Extremely interesting, timely work
While the author's prose is often too colloquial for my taste, his well organized, expertly researched account of the 1936 Berlin games is both interesting reading and valuable historical reference.He also provides a very good history of the modern Olympics leading up to the titled games and consequently gives the reader a valuable perspective from which to examine those that followed...including/especially the upcoming Beijing Olympics.

A Masterpiece
David Clay large has written a terrific book about the 1936 Berlin Olympics.He traces the history of the modern Olympics before and after Berlin, skillfully describes the failed effort to boycott the games, and presents a lively retelling of the games themselves.But it is the story of the political intrigues surrounding the competition that makes the book worth reading.With the 2008 Beijing Olympics fast approaching, this book will show how totalitarian states will pull out all the stops to host successful Olympics and score public relations victories.

Olympics Then & Now, Same Old Stuff.
The Beijing Olympics are following the 1936 Germany approach to world peace and both are controversial and ill-timed.Germany's took place before the world knew of the concentration camps and killing of the Jewish race from different countries.This year's bad timing has to do after China took over Tibet and killed some of the monks.The nuns were traveling America to let us know what was going on.Therefore, no matter how Berlin came out smelling like a mum, we now have media and protesters to keep us aware of China's human rights molestation.Also, their manufacturing with poisons on products shipped to America.It is appalling.Will these Olympics take place as scheduled or will they turn out like the Moscow 1980 games?

During the time of The Olympics in 1936 Germany, the Nazis were experimenting with the concentration camp prisoners with lethal drugs, stealing their gold teeth before/after being gassed into extinction. Searching for a truth drug to use on military prisoners, their guiena pigs were dosed with powerful narcotics to see what makes a stressful person talk about private things. It was the beginning of brain washing captured Allies too end the War. The 1936 men's basketball first recognized as an Olympic sport had 23 teams from four continents. The American team won gold in a bizarre situation playing in six-inch standing water on a rain-soaked tennis court. Like the "Leathernecks" football team of 1890, their uniforms became muddied. But no Alvin York play was needed.

Perhaps after the first twenty years of Olympic basketball, miracles were needed, especially in 1972 and 1988. It protrayed a false public image, like the KTA and KAT. America's entrant in decathlon, Glenn Morris, won the gold --also had a fling with the producer of a documentary of the Berlin games, Leni Riefenstahl, also know as Hitler's woman. He was a 24-yr. old from Denver, and chosen the best all-around athlete in the world. Like othrs before him, he tried acting in movies in America but floundered and failed in that sport.

The Getapo selected women to de-rail the Olympic athletes from ohter countries to engage in decedent sexual favors. In the "Love" Garden in the Village woods, each female chose her sportive partner but held onto his Olympic badge to prove her progeny had a good origin. This was part of Hitler's plan for a new Aaryan race.

Let's hope nothing like that will occur 72 years later in Beijing, China, after the parade was delayed by the opposition in France while the flame was being transported. After the attempt to kill our pets with poison in foods produced in China, and babies by lead paint on popular toys manufactured there, the Olympics should be cancelled as those in 1980 Russia. In France, the banners of protest depicted the Olympic rings as handcuffs hung on the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame cathedral. These banners were also put up on the Golden Gate bridge in America. A day earlier, London saw opposition of this travesty, calling it a form of sabotage by Tibetan separatists. "The buildup to these '08 games are to separate openness in China and to faciliate improvements in its record on human rights." The Olympics should supersede politics but, as we know from past places and crime running rampant, there is no way this could be possible. ... Read more

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The Olympic Games have become a subject of major importance to students, academics, sports bodies, politicians, urban planners, and the public at large. The Olympic Rings are among the most recognised symbols in the world, and there are few other cultural phenomena that attract such a significant following in the popular media or such widespread support among the nations of the world. "Global Olympics: Historical and Sociological Studies of the Modern Games" draws together some of the world's leading scholars on critical issues emerging from ancient Olympic contests and over one hundred years of modern Olympic history. A wide range of expertise permits the authors to address these issues from varied perspectives, while encompassing an in-depth assessment of the current literature and debates on the Olympics. This book will serve as an interdisciplinary resource for undergraduate and graduate students alike, as well as for the growing cohort of researchers interested in understanding and explaining the historical and sociological significance of the Games. ... Read more

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The 1972 Munich Olympics--remembered almost exclusively for the devastating terrorist attack on the Israeli team--were intended to showcase the New Germany and replace lingering memories of the Third Reich. That hope was all but obliterated in the early hours of September 5, when gun-wielding Palestinians murdered 11 members of the Israeli team. In the first cultural and political history of the Munich Olympics, Kay Schiller and Christopher Young set these Games into both the context of 1972 and the history of the modern Olympiad. Delving into newly available documents, Schiller and Young chronicle the impact of the Munich Games on West German society. ... 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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According to most accounts, the man solely responsible for reviving themodern Olympic Games was Baron Pierre de Coubertin.Now, in The ModernOlympics, David C. Young challenges this view, revealing that Coubertin was only the lastand most successful of many contributors to the dream of the modern Olympics.

Based on thirteen years of research in previously neglected documents, Young reconstructs thefascinating and almost unknown history of the Olympic revival movement in the nineteenthcentury, including two long-forgotten Olympiads--one in London in 1866 and another in Athensin 1870. He traces the idea for the modern Olympics back to an obscure Greek poet in 1833 andfollows the sinuous tale to a small village in England, where W. P. Brookes held localOlympiads, founded the British Olympic Committee, and told Coubertin about his vision of aninternational Olympics.

Coubertin's main contribution to the founding of the modern Olympics was the zeal he brought totransforming an idea that had evolved over decades into the reality of Olympiad I and all theOlympic Games held thereafter. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Less Coubertin centric view of the Olympics
In college Young majored in ancient Greek, and did scholarship on Pindar, who wrote poems on athletes who participated in the Olympics and other events.(xi) One day he ran into a reference to a 1930 work by Chrysafis written in Katharevousa, an archaic form of written Greek used much less today(which he could read because of his classical training).(xi-xii) Barely speaking modern Greek at the time, David Young asked at the Greek Olympic Committee about Chrysafis's book and was given by an employee who did not speak English a hardbound copy of that work to keep.(xii- xiii).

Young constantly refers to the Olympics as "our Olympics" and shows great concern for correcting the historical record. He takes time to correct misinformation started by men such as the Anglo-Irishman Mahaffy, who in addition to being a poor classical scholar who started the false myth of ancient Olympic amateurism, had trouble reading and understanding modern Greek, misleading history about the Zappas Olympics which he attended leaving one of the few English language accounts lampooning the event. (198, 49, 197)

David starts his narrative off with the Greek poet Soutsos who was the first in the modern era to propose reviving the ancient Olympics. He also traces Brookes who started the Wenlock and other local and national British Olympics, starting with his first Wenlock Olympian Games in 1851, which happened before Soutsos's suggestion for a Olympic revival in modern Greece was realized in the First Zappas Olympiad of 1859.(10, 21) This is contrary to other Olympic historians who according to this study are more Coubertin centric in their telling of history. Coubertin was instrumental in establishing the international Olympics that are our modern Olympics now are, but he was not the first to start or think of an Olympic revival. He only became concerned about reviving the Olympics after meeting Brookes, though he later was less forthcoming in the influence Brookes had on his international Olympic efforts.

Check out this work if you want to read the work of a historian who is relying on primary Greek sources for the early pre-IOC events like the Zappas Olympiad, a historian who can also read ancient Greek and will not fall for the myths of ancient Olympic amateurism(ancient Olympians were professionals) meant to prop up class exclusive snobbery. This book utilizes alot of unpublished sources like the Brookes Papers in England, the 1894 Paris Athletic Congress papers in Switzerland, the Dragoumis Documents in Greece, etc. and is clearly the work of years and years of research.(171-175)

(*Note*)- The numbers and Roman numerals refer to citations in the book.

Fine look at the roots of the modern Olympic movement
It's taken as an article of faith that until Baron Pierre de Coubertin had a brainwave in the early 1890s, no one had thought of putting on an Olympic Games in over a thousand years.Not so.de Coubertin, to use Sir Isaac Newton's phrase, stood on the shoulders of giants.

Chief among those giants was William Penny Brookes, of Much Wenlock, Shropshire, England.From this obscure town, Brookes, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, began an Olympic movement (the games he founded still exist).David C. Young tracks Brookes, and the games (once national in scope) he founded, and Brookes' contacts with and inspiration of de Coubertin.

Young also traces the Athens games, long forgotten, which predated 1896, and another giant, Evangelis Zappas, who gave money and energy to put on these games.

Young also traces the struggle to put on the 1896 Athens games, and gives us a blow by blow account of those games themselves--at which de Coubertin was little thanked.He also gives us a brief, but interesting explanation of why the 1906 Intercalary Olympic Games took place in Athens, and their contribution to the Olympic movement, which in many ways exceeded those of the other early Olympics.

Young sheds light on the background of the modern Olympics, and on figures too long forgotten.

Highly recommended.

Best Book to Read on the History of the Modern Olympic Games
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.The first President of the IOC was D. Vikelas.

This book shatters the myth that Baron Pierre de Coubertin was solely responsible for the re-establishment of the Olympic Games in the 19th Century.Coubertin was one of many who contributed to the re-establishment of the Olympic Games but most notably: Soutsos (poet), Zappas (philanthropist and founder of the Olympic revival in Greece), Dr Brookes (founder of the Olympic revival in the United Kingdom) and Vikelas (first President of the IOC).

The author documents a history of the Olympic revival and describes the national Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece (the Zappas Games) and in Much Wenlock, Shropshire (United Kingdom) in the mid-1800s.He traces the ideals for the revival of the Ancient Greek Olympics to poems published by the Greek poet Soutsos in the early 1800s.

The author gives properly referenced evidence that Coubertin was inspired by Dr Brookes and documents how the first modern national Olympics were held in Athens and in Much Wenlock.

The first modern international Olympics was held in Athens in 1896 after the establishment of the International Olympic Committee.

Highly recommended book.The only book that I have read that has made a real effort to record the facts on Modern Olympic history in the 19th Century.Very interesting and very easy to read. ... Read more

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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