The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition

by: David Wallechinsky, Jaime Loucky
The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition
List Price: $29.95
Price: $21.86
You Save: $8.09 (27%)
Prices subject to change.

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Product Description:

With a complete statistical record since the 1896 founding of the modern Games—including medals won and times, distances, or scores recorded by the top eight competitors in all events (from staples such as the marathon to long-discontinued competitions such as the tug of war), this encyclopedic tome contains anything anyone could ever need or want to know about the modern Olympic Games. Far from a dry compendium of names, numbers, and scoring systems, this book also contains a summary history of every event at each of the 26 modern Games, enriched with an extraordinary wealth of Olympic lore and anecdote. The authors provide thought-provoking analysis of issues and controversies from shamateurism to drug-taking and corruption, and they have sieved through more than a century of Olympic history to assemble a mind-boggling collection of stories that range from the inspiring, through the comic, to the bizarre. Such long-forgotten characters are included as the boy who was plucked from the streets of Paris to navigate for two Dutch oarsmen in the paired-oar event in 1900 and, after steering them to victory and a Gold Medal, returned to obscurity, his name unknown to this day; or the 72-year-old winner of a silver medal for target-shooting.



Alternate Versions: Click to Display
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Everything a Summer Olympics fan could dream of...
... except the 2008 results.And of course, when David Wallechinsky produces THAT, I'll grab that updated volume, too.Not only do the authors give every little detail about the most famous events--Jesse Owens', Mark Spitz's, Wilma Rudolph's--but this volume is packed full of little-known facts about people whose tales are otherwise lost in today's 24/7 world.Yes, the IOC has some management details that are distasteful, but there are stories told in this book that are heartwarming: the swimmer ... Read More
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - This Olympics BIble is a Treasure!
Wallechinsky's newest book is a treasure trove of Olympic proportions.Everything you ever wanted to know about all the Summer Olympic events are detailed in this superb resource!
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Neat book
I really liked this book; however, it was more of an almanac than a picture book. Very cool.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Two Important Improvements
The last few editions of this book were titled "The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics", because the winter Olympic Games were covered in a separate volume. They still are. Perhaps the previous publisher wouldn't let the current one use the word "summer" in the title. But that is a minor quibble.

Two long-need changes have finally been made to this quadrennially updated reference. These alone make it worth purchasing. First, after the listings for track and field events, the remaining ... Read More
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Best Olympic Resource Book!
This is the best Olympic resource book around. If you are an Olympic fan this is the book for you.
see more
 
 
Online Shopping » Shopping » Books » The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition