Product Description
In a startling exposé of the Olympic industry, Helen Jefferson Lenskyj goes beyond the media hype of international goodwill and spirited competition to uncover a darker side of the global Games. She reports on the pre- and post-Olympic impacts from recent host cities, bribery investigations and their outcomes, grassroots resistance movements, and the role of the mass media in the controversy. A highly accessible book about a complex subject that touches the hearts of sports fans everywhere, Inside the Olympic Industry is a must-read, behind-the-scenes look at the politics surrounding the choice of Sydney, Australia as host city for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. ... Read more

Product Description
This 2nd edition of a highly successful book (published in 2000) provides a comprehensive, critical analysis of the Olympic Games using a multi-disciplinary social science approach. This revised edition contains much new data relating to the Sydney 2000 Games and their aftermath; and preparations for Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Games. The book is broad-ranging and independent in its coverage, and includes the use of drugs, sex testing, accusations of power abuse among members of the IOC, the Games as a stage for political protest, media-related controversies, economic costs and benefits of the Games and historical conflicts between organizers and host communities. ... 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
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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Higher, faster, stronger… The Olympic motto conjures images of heroes whose achievements transcended their athletic prowess, but also of tragedy and disgrace. By 1980, the modern Olympic movement was gasping for breath, bankrupt financially, politically, and culturally. But under the leadership of Juan Antonio Samaranch, and, subsequently, Jacques Rogge, the Olympics began a journey back from the brink. Michael Payne, who served as the International Olympic Committee's top marketer for over twenty years, offers unprecedented access to the people and negotiations behind one of the most dramatic turnarounds in business or sports history. Through a multi-pronged strategy, the IOC managed to secure lucrative broadcasting commitments, entice well-heeled corporate sponsors, and parlay the symbolism of the Olympics into a brand for which cities around the world are willing to invest billions of dollars. Packed with previously untold stories from the high-octane world where business, sports, politics, and media meet, Olympic Turnaround is a remarkable tale of organizational renewal and a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of the world's most iconic brand.

The 2008 Games in Beijing, for example, are expected to involve over 10,000 athletes from 200 countries, draw 20,000 media representatives, and generate over $4 billion in sponsorships and broadcasting rights. Packed with previously untold stories from the high-octane world where business, sports, politics, and media meet, Olympic Turnaround is a remarkable tale of organizational renewal and a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of the world's most iconic brand.

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent
none of the books out there can show us what had happened inside of the olympics. it consists of many interesting stories that we haven't known yet.

after reading the book, i also realized how important the sports markeing is for companies to try to go to a next level.. ... Read more

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No story so richly illustrates the interaction between sport and politics as the story of Jewish athletes and the Games. Here, each major event at the Games related to the Jews is covered in-depth, including: the story of the Jewish-Hungarian wrestler Karoly Karpati in Berlin, 1936; the German-Jewish high-jumper Gretel Bergmann, who was callously exploited, then discarded, by the Germans; the American sprinters, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller; and the legendary Mark Spitz. From the first Olympics in Athens in 1896, through to the disasters and triumphs of Munich 1972 and beyond, "Jews and the Olympic Games", which features a list of the more than 250 Jewish medallists at the Games, is a powerful account of the conflict between sport and politics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A brilliant work for Jews and sports lovers
This book finally and forever puts to rest the myth that Jews aren't sportspeople. The list of Jewish competitors at the Olympic Games, winners of numerous medals despite a century of Anti-Semitism and restrictions, is staggering. Paul Taylor has done a wonderful job in bringing to the fore the Jewish sports stars, their stories, the efforts they went to just to compete on equal terms, and the frustrations they suffered. Taylor also details the anti-semitism of the Olympic movement and the naked racism of so many teams, team managers, and governments which prevented Jewish competitors from participating.
But most importantly, Taylor has given us numerous personal portraits of stunningly brave individuals who fought against the incalculable difficulties, just to become Olympians. ... 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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The first full account, based on access to key players who have never before spoken, of the Munich Massacre and the Israeli response–a lethal, top secret, thirty-year-long antiterrorism campaign to track down the killers.
1972. The Munich Olympics. Palestinian members of the Black September group murder eleven Israeli athletes. Nine hundred million people watch the crisis unfold on television, witnessing a tragedy that inaugurates the modern age of terror and remains a scar on the collective conscience of the world.
Back in Israel, Prime Minister Golda Meir vows to track down those responsible and, in Menachem Begin’s words, “run these criminals and murderers off the face of the earth.” A secret Mossad unit, code named Caesarea, is mobilized, a list of targets drawn up. Thus begins the Israeli response–a mission that unfolds not over months but over decades. The Mossad has never spoken about this operation. No one has known the real story. Until now.
Award-winning journalist Aaron Klein’s incisive and riveting account tells for the first time the full story of Munich and the Israeli counterterrorism operation it spawned. With unprecedented access to Mossad agents and an unparalleled knowledge of Israeli intelligence, Klein peels back the layers of myth and misinformation that have permeated previous books, films, and magazine articles about the “shadow war” against Black September and other terrorist groups.
Spycraft, secret diplomacy, and fierce detective work abound in a story with more drama than any fictional thriller. Burning questions are at last answered, including who was killed and who was not, how it was done, which targets were hit and which were missed. Truths are revealed: the degree to which the Mossad targeted nonaffiliated Black September terrorists for assassination, the length and full scope of the operation (far greater than previously suspected), retributive acts against Israel, and much more.
Finally, Klein shows that the Israeli response to Munich was not simply about revenge, as is popularly believed. By illuminating the tactical and strategic purposes of the Israeli operation, Striking Back allows us to draw profoundly relevant lessons from one of the most important counterterrorism campaigns in history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Honest narrative of a difficult story
This is a difficult story to tell, mainly because reality is much less dramatic than the myth surrounding this episode, especially after the Spielberg movie. Firstly, most of the initial assassinations in the wake of Munich were low-level logistical support people who probably were not even involved in the original massacre. On balance, aside from Ali Hassan Salameh, the goal of revenge, as the title "Striking Back" suggests, was never really achieved (and even that his involvement disputed by some of Klein's sources). I suppose that is a bitter reality of any anti-terrorist effort. However, the book really loses its way after the "Spring of Youth" operation in Beirut, as the original story line of punishing the perpetrators of Munich fades into the more humdrum and bloody story of tit-for-tat killings after attacks. Once again, this is probably not the author's fault but rather a testament to the honesty with which a difficult story is told.

Balanced presentation of the issues
This was a very interesting book describing a very tumultous time in Israel's history.I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to understand more about "Munich" and the history of Palestinian and/or Islamic terrorism

The author did a good job of pointing out the pros and cons of Israel's assassination policy, including the bungled job in Lillehammer, Norway that resulted in the death of an (apparently) innocent civilian.It's not a simple issue, by far.Overall, though, the work of the Mossad over time probably did reduce the incidents of terrorism, and I think a reasonable person would come to that conclusion by looking objectively at the evidence.Whether it justifies killing a target in another sovereign nation is another issue, though I lean slightly toward the positive.

A more scholarly study than Vengeance
This is the second book I bought for my son, and one for myself because my son said that MUNICH was 90% fiction.
VENGEANCE was the story of one Israeli spy team as told to the author by the leader of that one team.This book, STRIKING BACK is more scholarly, and discusses many teams, the theory behind the teams, the results of their wet work, and also tells us about Israeli policy as it changes through the years. Both books help us understand that the facts and stories as presented are 90% fact, and we can learn a gret deal about how Israel survives using an Old Testament technique ("An Eye for an Eye.".Israel's survival depends on how it responds to attacks and we have a clearer understanding of the reason for desperate measures.It's a good book, a more difficult read than VENGEANCE, but worth the effort.

Excellent
I purchased and read this book after having seen Steven Spielberg's movie "Munich" and I am glad I did it in that order.While reading the book I could picture many of the scenes from the movie which helped keep all the names and characters straight.A sad, enthralling story - I could not put it down.

Dry and Witless
Yes, I understand this is not a novel, but it is as dryly written as a computer manual.It's a shame because the story is compelling, true and quite dynamic. ... Read more

Product Description
Set in Greece in 430 B.C., Nic, the spoiled son of a wealthy Athenian family, is on the run. If only he can reach Olympia in time for the Games and find his friend Gellius, he thinks he'll be safe. But the Pankration, the supreme event of the original Olympic games, a bare-fisted, no-holds-barred combat sport, awaits Gellius. And in the end it's the Pankration that forces Nic to choose between the truth and a horrible fear. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

review
The book takes place in Ancient Greece where Nic is fleeing from the plague in Athens and encounters danger. The pankration is an olympic event where people fight without weapons. This is one great book, but it was missing a little information about the charecters and about what happened after the pankration.

Pankration: The ultimate book
This book takes place in ancient Greece. It is about the life of a young boy named Nic who faces many dilemmas in life. He is sent away from Athens due to the plauge. He meets Gellius, a sailor who dreams to win the pankration someday. Then Nic is captured and sold as a slave. Gellius was not captured. This story tells about his search for a friend, and his struggle.I think that this was a great book.My friend thinks it was too convenient for Nic sometimes and a little unrealitic, but I loved it.
This book was exciting, and made you think about your life too. This book was a wonder to our class(as we read it aloud in class) I give this book five stars. It was a book of great pain, suffering, and happiness. I hope you all read this book.

Wonderful Action Packed Book!
This was the most ammasing book I have ever read.It kept moving along and never got boring.One adventure leads to another.This is the best book I have read and it is pretty hard to beat.This book deserves 6 out of 5 stars!!

§§ A Fantastic History of the Greek Olympics! §§
excellent! a great book for projects on greek olympics! Five-star book, Blacklock did an absolute thriller adventure ride.

PANKRATION COMBAT A REAL TEST OFSTRENGTH & ENDURANCE
PANKRATION: THE ULTIMATE GAME reflects the ancient but brutal sport of Pankration combat.It had but one rule & everything else was allowed even fighting to the death and/or maiming one's rival.....The rules of combat are defined in the book.The book has an intriguiing love story which causes two cadets to fight for the same woman both men desperately crave. ... Read more

Product Description
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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Product Description
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

Product Description
The Handbooks of Sports Medicine and Science present basic clinical and scientific information in a clear style and format as related to specific sports events drawn from the Olympic Summer and Winter Games.Each handbook is written by a small team of authorities co-ordinated by an editor who is internationally respected and recognized in the particular sport activity. Their charge is to present material for medical doctors who work with athletes, team coaches who have an academic grounding in basic science, physical therapists and other allied health personnel and knowledgeable athletes.Each volume presents up-to-date information on the basic biology of the sport, conditioning techniques, nutrition, and the medical aspects of injury prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation.

This Handbook will constitute the most complete and authoritative source of information in nutrition, biomechanics, injury prevention, treatment and care of medical problems, and conditioning for competition.

Written by experts in both science and practice

Includes the latest information in an easy to read and understand form ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Academic
I bought this book expecting great things given the FIS and IOC endorsement.What happen was that it forced me to sit down and read critically about my sport.There is alot of worthwhile information here, but there are also a lot of errors.It is very typical of reports about sports written by academics who do not ski.To say that because these scientists could not see "adominal muscules working, in xc skiing therefore they do not contribute to ski skating" shows blunt ignorance of the reality of the sport.Unfortunately, great scientific data is spoiled by wild conclusions based on observation not experience.Buy this book if you are experienced enought to know the difference. ... Read more

Product Description
“In this book on the spectacular races at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, Bill Stowe writes with the same deadly accuracy and drive that he showed as the stroke of that crew. He writes not as his own remembrances would be so long after the fact, but rather in the tightly woven factual web of interviews of rowers from around the world. This is a compelling book because it develops the diverse backgrounds and experiences that a small group of men brought for the sole purpose of winning a gold medal in the Olympics. It was so momentous that this feat has not been repeated for the United States for 40 years, and then only with the force of a truly national effort and all of the weight and backing that that brings.

Customer Reviews (5)

Depth, detail, drama--an engrossing read
The first reviewer here--Joe Burk--(Penn's late Joe Burk?) identifies what makes the title so apt, and what Stowe brings out so well, mixing his own observations with the perspectives of his crewmates: this boat won and won, regardless of the considerable differences in personality and background of its individual rowers.There's a potential in learning to do that that many Americans could use to recall today.I started rowing on the Schuylkill two years after Stowe's eight won the gold in Tokyo, a time when most of the oarsmen in that boat were still rowing out of Vesper, and were the acknowledged heroes of Boathouse Row.Our cox knew some of them (including Stowe and Zimonyi), and it was pretty cool to watch a four filled with some of those guys row by, or, say, returning from a run along the Drive, have the likes of Boyce Budd, passing the other way, nod and say "Hey."It all made for a palpable sense of something larger and lots older than oneself, and made it clear that gold medal winners have a love for their sport that doesn't end when they reach that pinnacle.All of this comes through in this thoughtful and engagingly written book.There's humor, too, as in the overall affectionate but sometimes exasperated recounting of the "notorious" Amlong brothers.Stowe's retellings--in his own and his crewmates' words--of the boat's wins at the U.S. olympic trials (over Harvard) and over the Germans (Ratzeburg) at Tokyo are gripping stuff.A great read.

Rowing for Olympic gold makes a compelling story
As a kid I read the biography of Olympic legend Bob Mathias and it led me to set up a decathlon field in my back yard in Vermont, with a wagon wheel for my discus. All Together by author/oarsman Bill Stowe will touch some readers with the same kind of identification. I have no doubt that as a result of this book kids in the hinterlands will start googling to find out where they might participate in competitive rowing. But the book will reach primarily an adult readership, both those who have some experience of rowing and those who just like a good yarn where work and sacrifice result in victory.

Author Stowe tells this story, which leads up to the victory of his crew (he was stroke, the leading oar) at the 1964 Olympics in Japan with simplicity, humor and a keen eye for detail. It's the detail that makes it sweet because it lets you go along for the ride (or row, actually.) Excitement builds towards the Olymics, but he never tries to force it. He lets the characters move the story along. And when his crew wins the gold, you care as a reader because by now you really know the guys and you know what they sacrificed to accomplish this great thing.

I say this without reservation: The Chapter called the Gold Medal Race, which comes nearly at the end of the book, is a goose-bump producing account of regular men doing a special thing: winning Olympic Gold. I've never read a more exciting or insightful account of a sporting event.

There might not be a story here without the Olympics, or if so, a much different story. But Stowe also includes a great account of a rich life in rowing, from prep days to college and the historic Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia, one of whose members, himself an enthusiastic oarsman, was the late Jack Kelly, brother of Princess Grace. But the story is filled with accounts of all kinds of unforgettable characters he rowed with and the events that brought it all to pass. There's a lot of backgrund material that Stowe has reseached for this book, things he did not know at the time, being otherwise occupied. But the background materal adds much. It was worth the effort.

One thing about All Together that really pleased me is that rowing is genuinely a team sport. Out of the water you have a lot of room for individualism, to say the least, but the point of rowing seems to me to have eight men pulling as one. (There's a coxswain, too,but he doesn't actually pull!) The more the individual is submerged into the unit the more successful a crew will be. A lot of kids need to read about this kind of sacrifice in an age of gross sports egos.

A great new book by a fine new author. I hope this guy writes more.

The best rowing book I've read.
I've read all the rowing books in the past 25 years, and Stowe's is the best."All Together" is aptly titled. The cast of characters is fascinating, with no single oarsman dominating either the crew or the story.
The straighforward approach to the story, sparing the reader the silly semi-mystical fluff of other recent Olympic tales, is welcome.
The Vesper/USA eight won the gold medal in Tokyo, of course.I knew that before I started, but somehow, there's still an element of suspense in the last chapters. I read it through at one sitting, and I would have liked it to be longer.
Remarkable effort for a first book; I hope Stowe keeps writing.
Mike Foley
P.S.If you rowed at Penn, the Ted Nash anecdotes are priceless.

Of Course Bill Stowe Got It Right
The magnificent sport of rowing --- America's oldest intercollegiate competition --- has a thin but distinguished library. "All Together" embellishes that shelf. And who better to tell the extraordinary story of the Vesper Boat Club crew than Bill Stowe, the premier oarsman in the stroke seat that stunning year of 1964? This is a people book, for readers who may not know an oar from an orange. The eight oarsmen, and the 43-year-old refugee coxswain from Hungary, were certainly a disparate group. Stowe tells how they assembled, how they argued, how they were directed, and how they came to win sport's foremost crown. And how they survived life thereafter.

All Together
This book is a great example of how a sport can bring people of highly diverse backgrounds into one united group, solely to accomplish the rewards of victory.Rowing, not only builds character and muscles, but tolerance and an ability to accept the diverse lives of your squad.
... Read more

Product Description
Although the fight for independence by ethnic minorities has received much attention recently, there is no study of how globalized sport in its most advanced form can help to stimulate it. This book shows how the 1992 Olympic Games raised the tension that already existed between Catalonia and Spain. John Hargreaves analyzes and explains the way in which the conflict developed and eventually was resolved in terms of the special characteristics of Catalan nationalism, the nature of the new Spanish democracy and the special role played by the International Olympic Committee. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Catalonia
Freedom for Catalonia? by John Hargreaves is an interesting study on the Barcelona Olympics and their effect on Catalan nationalism and the Spanish central authorities.Both the Catalans and the Spanish attempted to use the Games as a tool to further their own goals.
Much of the early part of the book is the background necessary to understand the discussion through out the rest.Hargreaves discusses the importance of national identity to the people of Catalonia.We learn that their nationalism tends to be inclusive rather than exclusive, an important principal in the outcome of the games. Although well written, the language in this section is overly academic and difficult for the average college student to grasp.
Hargreaves describes the rival factions vying for control of the content of the games.There are attempts by the nationalists to put as much Catalanism into the Games as possible, by whatever means they can.It is not until the last minute that the content is decided upon.The compromise the sides work out, the paz olimpica, results in a balance where both side benefit. In the end, the Olympics are a triumph for Catalan culture, with out diminishing the prestige of Spain.

Catalonia
Freedom for Catalonia? by John Hargreaves is an interesting study on the Barcelona Olympics and their effect on Catalan nationalism and the Spanish central authorities.Both the Catalans and the Spanish attempted to use the Games as a tool to further their own goals.
Much of the early part of the book is the background necessary to understand the discussion through out the rest.Hargreaves discusses the importance of national identity to the people of Catalonia.We learn that their nationalism tends to be inclusive rather than exclusive, an important principal in the outcome of the games. Although well written, the language in this section is overly academic and difficult for the average college student to grasp.
Hargreaves describes the rival factions vying for control of the content of the games.There are attempts by the nationalists to put as much Catalanism into the Games as possible, by whatever means they can.It is not until the last minute that the content is decided upon.The compromise the sides work out, the paz olimpica, results in a balance where both side benefit. In the end, the Olympics are a triumph for Catalan culture, with out diminishing the prestige of Spain.

Freedom for Catalonia
Freedom for Catalonia? by John Hargreaves is an interesting study on the Barcelona Olympics and their effect on Catalan nationalism and the Spanish central authorities.Both the Catalans and the Spanish attempted to use the Games as a tool to further their own goals.
Much of the early part of the book is the background necessary to understand the discussion through out the rest.Hargreaves discusses the importance of national identity to the people of Catalonia.We learn that their nationalism tends to be inclusive rather than exclusive, an important principal in the outcome of the games. Although well written, the language in this section is overly academic and difficult for the average college student to grasp.
Hargreaves describes the rival factions vying for control of the content of the games.There are attempts by the nationalists to put as much Catalanism into the Games as possible, by whatever means they can.It is not until the last minute that the content is decided upon.The compromise the sides work out, the paz olimpica, results in a balance where both side benefit. In the end, the Olympics are a triumph for Catalan culture, with out diminishing the prestige of Spain.

An Interesting Look at Sports and Nationlism
In his book, Freedom for Catalonia, John Hargreaves analyzes the extent to which the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games affected the political, economic, and social relationships between Catalonia and Spain, and the mutual effects that the Games had on the Catalonian and Spanish identities.Hargreaves presents, for the most part, a well thought out argument with a distinctive investigation of the relationship between sport and nationalism.He discusses his own conceptualization of sport as an important entity in both the political and cultural realm, in addition to his intricate notion of ethnic and civic nationalism.These explanations, along with an in depth look at Spanish and Catalonian historical and cultural ties, provide the extensive background necessary to fully appreciate the influence of the Barcelona Olympics on Catalonian nationalism and Spanish identity.
Hargreaves provides a detailed account, based on his personal experience at the Barcelona Olympics, of the two organizing committees' attempts to Catalonize and Espanolize the Games.He explains the important controversies centered around certain Olympic rituals, like the opening, closing, and medal ceremonies.He considers the tensions between the Spanish nationalists, the Catalan nationalists, and the various Catalan Left-wing activist groups that arose from the debate over what role the Catalan flag should play in the games, what languages should be sanctioned, and what type of patriotic music should be played.Hargreaves also discusses, aside from the central concern of the text, to what extent the 1992 Games were Americanized, Europeanized, and globalized.
In conclusion Hargreaves explains how Spanish organizing committee's eventual concession to allow the Games to be Catalonized affected the sense of Catalan nationalism and Spanish identity.He investigates the immediate and lasting effects of the Games on the Catalonian and Spanish people through a rather monotonous series of tables and charts.For the most part, Hargreaves presents an interesting exploration of the affects that the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games had on the insurgence Catalan nationalism and the relationship between Catalonia and Spain. ... Read more