Overview

The first two London Olympics offer food for thought in the run-up to London 2012, with its multi-billion pound budget during a global economic recession, new sporting arenas, Olympic villages, and high-speed rail links. When Vesuvius erupted in 1906, Italy had to pull out of hosting the Games. London stepped in and delivered new stadia without any government assistance in just two years. In 1948, still recovering from the ravages of war, London hosted the Olympics again. The entire budget for the 1948 Games was £760,000, and they turned a profit of £29,000. This history of the London Olympics, which concludes with a look ahead to 2012, is a timely and fascinating chronicle of the Games of another age.

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9780747808220

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Reviews

An entertaining dash through the last two Olympics hosted by [London].The contrasts between then and now are striking, and often amusing. But it's the dramatic events that played out on the track and field that really capture the imagination. . . . A brief and lively account that brings London's previous Olympic moments to life with great images and revealing quotes from newspapers, spectators and the athletes themselves. -- BBC History Magazine

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An entertaining dash through the last two Olympics hosted by [London].<br>The contrasts between then and now are striking, and often amusing. But it's the dramatic events that played out on the track and field that really capture the imagination. . . . A brief and lively account that brings London's previous Olympic moments to life with great images and revealing quotes from newspapers, spectators and the athletes themselves. -- BBC History Magazine

Author Information

Janie Hampton is the author of more than fifteen books, including a biography of Joyce Grenfell and a history of the Girl Guide movement. In 2008 her book 'The Austerity Olympics' was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year prize, and the British Sports Book Awards best biography prize. Janie lives in Oxford.

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