Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature) [Hardcover]

Ian Buchanan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature | Publication Date: August 28, 2001

Offers a multitude of hard-to-find facts on the important people, events, and organizations involved in the Olympic movement.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The earlier editions of this title appeared in 1995 and 2001. The volume covers a wide range of persons, places, and events over a long historical period, stretching back more than a millennium. Entries are in dictionary format and include significant events, Olympic bodies, pioneers of the games, organizations, athletes, and the many participating countries, which now number 202. Since 2001 the Olympic movement has had to deal with various controversial issues, including bribery and drug doping, and both of these challenges are dealt with in these pages.

The volume begins with a chronology of the Olympic movement, from the twelfth B.C.E. right up to the location for the 2010 winter games, in Vancouver, BC. A second chronology covers the Olympic, beginning with the first of the modern era, in 1896, through to the selection process for the site for the 2014 winter games. Summaries are provided for each of the Olympiads. The A-Z entries give the reader material ranging from a brief biographical sketch of ice-skater Richard "Dick" Button to an extensive essay on the IOC 2000 Commission formed to investigate the Olympic bribery scandal, as well as definitions or short articles on Olympic terms, such as the ancient Isthmian Games and pentathlon.

Appendixes supply valuable supplemental material, for example, lists of members and awards of the International Olympic Committee, most Olympic medals won, and an interesting section entitled "Positive Drug Tests at the Olympic Games." A comprehensive 34-page bibliography rounds out the book.

Though the lack of illustrations might be a drawback, public and academic libraries will want this standard reference in order to keep current with the Olympic movement. It is a good companion to Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement (Greenwood, 2001), which focuses more on the nonathletic facets of the games, including finances and politics. Jerry Carbone
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

The authors of this book make it easy for anyone to understand the history of the Olympic movement whether that person is an athlete or a non-athlete.  It is true, as pointed out in another foreward article, that the Olympics are the most watched sporting events in the world.  This book provides a means for people who may only be casual observers of the Games to learn about the history of the Games and of the larger Olympic Movement. The authors exhibit a commitment to detail and to history.  They convey a sense of the passion and determination of Olympic athletes down through the years....Like any book of this type...it is...designed for a coffee table or for a reference shelf in a home, office or library.  The authors clearly want to provide a single book that can encompass the history and facts surrounding the Olympic Movement.  They succeed nicely in this effort.

 

 

(The Sports Digest 20110914)

Building on earlier editions, the fourth edition of the Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement stretches back to 1100 BCE and reaches forward to 2016. Containing more than 900 entries on people, places, ideas, and politics, it is a comprehensive single-volume overview of the Olympic movement. Lists of acronyms and abbreviations of countries, sports, and other terms used are helpful. Also provided is a detailed chronology. An essay entitled “The Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games” provides concise summaries of each of the games, starting in 1896 and ending with a discussion of the future games in 2016, while the introduction provides a nice overview of the politics of the Olympics. The entries are arranged alphabetically and range from brief paragraphs to longer essays and are concise and accessible to all readers. Cross-referencing is extensive. The valuable appendixes include lists of the International Olympic Committee presidents and Olympic torchbearers as well as statistics on medals won and Olympic appearances. There is also a list of all positive drug tests and a chronology of attempts to revive the Olympics prior to 1896. A detailed bibliography is also included in the volume. As the introduction points out, the Olympics are the “most watched sporting event on the planet,” so libraries would do well to consider this updated title either in hard copy or as an e-book.

(Booklist ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press; 2nd edition (August 28, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810840545
• ISBN-13: 978-0810840546
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,188,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)