Overview
"Renowned sportswriter David Goldblatt has been hailed by the Wall Street Journal for writing ""with the expansive eye of a social and cultural critic"" In The Games Goldblatt delivers a magisterial history of the biggest sporting event of them all: the Olympics. He tells the epic story of the Games from their reinvention in Athens in 1896 to the present day, chronicling classic moments of sporting achievement from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Miracle on Ice to Usain Bolt. He goes beyond the medal counts to explore how international conflicts have played out at the Olympics, including the role of the Games in Fascist Germany and Italy, the Cold War, and the struggles of the postcolonial world for recognition. He also tells the extraordinary story of how women fought to be included on equal terms, how the Paralympics started in the wake of World War II, and how the Olympics reflect changing attitudes to race and ethnicity."
Full Product Details
Author: David Goldblatt (Pitzer College)
Publisher: WW Norton & Co
Imprint: WW Norton & Co
Dimensions:
Width: 16.80cm
, Height: 4.30cm
, Length: 24.40cm
Weight: 0.764kg
ISBN: 9780393292770
ISBN 10: 0393292770
Pages: 528
Publication Date: 11 July 2017
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
A people's history of the Olympics... [Goldblatt] has taken on a challenge worthy of a marathoner. -- Mary Pilon - New York Times Book Review Goldblatt has a particular eye for how the gung-ho competitiveness of Americans shaped international sport. -- Aram Goudsouzian - Washington Post [A] bracingly debunking history... Goldblatt writes about [the Olympics] with all his usual intelligence and social insight. -- David Runciman - Guardian [An] outstanding book... Illuminating, erudite, fair-minded and readable. -- Matthew Engel - Financial Times A tour de force history of the Olympics in romanticized myth and political reality... Gracefully written and compellingly argued, this is one of the best books of the year and one of the best sports books ever written. -- Kirkus (starred review) Highly recommended... [E]xplores the social and political history of the Olympic Games, from Pierre de Coubertin's neo-Hellenic vision as founder of the IOC to the expensive spectacles of the twenty-first century. -- Library Journal (starred review) A magisterial history of the Olympics ... chronicling classic moments of sporting achievements as well as the Games' significance in international conflicts. -- Publishers Weekly [The Games] makes a significant contribution to sports history. -- Booklist
Gracefully written and compellingly argued, this is one of the best books of the year and one of the best sports books ever written. -- Kirkus (starred review) A magisterial history of the Olympics ... chronicling classic moments of sporting achievements as well as the Games' significance in international conflicts. -- Publishers Weekly
Author Information
David Goldblatt is the author of The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer and Futebol Nation: The Story of Brazil Through Soccer. He writes for the Times Literary Supplement and the Guardian and has taught the sociology of sport at Bristol University, the International Center for Sports History and Culture, and Pitzer College in Los Angeles.
