The 2018 Winter Olympics start this week with figure skating on Thursday night and the opening ceremonies on Friday night. Of course, the library has a few books on the Olympics to get you ready. Here's a few:
For millions of people around the world, the Summer and Winter Games are a joy and a treasure, but how did they develop into a global colossus? How have they been buffeted by--and, in turn, affected by--world events? Why do we care about them so much? From the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history through national triumphs and tragedies, individual victories and failures. Here is the story of grand Olympic traditions such as winners' medals, the torch relay, and the eternal flame. Here is the story of popular Olympic events such as gymnastics, the marathon, and alpine skiing (as well as discontinued ones like tug-of-war). And here in all their glory are Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, Abebe Bikila to Bob Beamon, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.
This book is unique in that it is the first to provide a comprehensive, critical analysis of the contemporary sporting and cultural phenomenon that is the Olympic Games. It draws on a range of social science perspectives, including sociology, political science, history and economics and highlights the critical issues relating to the Games. The book examines the role of politics and nationalism in the development of the Games, the economics and financing of the Games, roles that the mass media has played, control of performance enhancing drugs, equity and women's participation and other fascinating aspects of one of the rare cultural events that is shared by many nations.
This multidisciplinary text is a comprehensive introduction to the central themes and background of the modern Games. The text considers a range of topics including: the ancient Olympics the modern revival of the nineteenth century the development of the Games throughout the twentieth century. the media and the Olympics Olympic marketing and sponsorship. Complemented by a dedicated website offering access to unique archive and other document sources, this book brings its audience the best Olympic educational expertise available.
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The 2018 Winter Olympics start this week with figure skating on Thursday night and the opening ceremonies on Friday night. Of course, the library has a few books on the Olympics to get you ready. Here's a few:
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