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Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics That Stirred the World

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I bought this book after hearing an interview with Maraniss on NPR. Normally, this isn't my kind of book. I'm not an athlete. I'm not a fanatic about the Olympics. I'd rather knit or read a cozy mystery that I can breeze through in a night. And yet, I love this book.

Each chapter is like a short essay on some facet of the 1960 Olympics: the controverial decision in the men's swimming event, the Tigerbelles' encounters with racisim on their road the Olympics, the political controvery between China and Taiwan, and more. Maraniss paints a picture of the world's political and social climate to show how those factors affected the 1960 Olympics and how the 1960 Olympics affected the world.

Each story is compelling--48 years later, I feel minor outrage that Lance Larson wasn't awarded the gold for men's swimming. I understand the terror Rafer Johnson must have felt outside of Lenin Stadium when the Russian crowd surged toward him after his defeat of Kuznetsov. Maraniss deftly captures the human stories and makes this reader care. I'm only 5 chapters into the book, but I wish I could skip work today to finish the rest of the book.

Before reading this book, I hadn't watched the Olympics in over 20 years. Now, I'm psyched for 2008 Summer Olympics!

The world is changing so fast right now that most of us can barely keep up with the daily news that affects our lives, jobs and future. So, it's a rare and wonderful treat when a book comes along that carries us back to a time and place when the world changed more slowly - to show us one of those events that truly did change our global culture. When such books come along, they're usually about wars - but not this new gem by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Maraniss.

Given my own background as a journalist, I'll confess that I was puzzled by Maraniss' decision in selecting "Rome 1960" for a thick new book of nearly 500 pages (that's counting all the extras at the end). As I picked up the book, I kept asking myself: Why did he call this particular meet -- "The Olympics that Changed the World"?

As a specialist in religion and culture, I've immersed myself in histories of other Olympics: the 1924 "Chariots of Fire" Olympics, the 1936 Nazi-dominated Olympics, the 1972 Olympics when terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes - and even the 1964 Tokyo Olympics that were a milestone in global culture in part because of Kon Ichikawa's historic documentary film.

But having read Maraniss' new book, I've got to agree - Rome in 1960 ranks right up there as a milestone in world culture.

I had not considered the roles of the major players who all collided in Rome that year - including the now-infamous anti-Semite and pro-Nazi American czar of the Olympics movement: Avery Brundage. If you don't find yourself drawn to "Sports" - but you are fascinated by 20th-Century history, especially the 1930s, Fascism and the Holocaust - this is a "must read" book for you. Think of it as a "sequel" to books about the controversial Nazi Olympics in which Hitler, Goebbels and Riefenstahl essentially pulled a fast one on Brundage in convincing him to help them celebrate their glorious new Reich.

As a journalist, I'm a longtime follower of new research into that earlier era - and Maraniss picks up the Brundage story in 1960 and pretty much nails the man and his many levels of hypocrisy - and lets us see how this antique figure collided with many of the realities of later-20th-Century culture. Among the key details Maraniss adds to our understanding of Brundage are personal jottings he made during the Rome Olympics that, among other things, complained of the emergence of "Jews ... demanding restitution for everything lost and lot more." (Of course, Brundage somehow managed to continue at the helm through 1972 in Munich, where controversy continued to surround his decisions.)

What's great about this new book is that everything I've said about the Brundage sub-plot is just one of many compelling storylines that Maraniss explores in these 500 pages. Among other things: These were the Olympics in which Cassius Clay exploded onto the global stage, later to transform himself into Muhammad Ali. These were the games of Wilma Rudolph. These were the games in which commercial interests were knocking down old-school barriers that claimed to be preserving an "amateur" tradition. Doping became an issue at Rome. Two Chinas and two Germanys jostled at these games.

This is summer reading at its best. The next Olympic games are looming. The world is no longer merely tilting on its axis. No, global culture now is spinning at a topsy-turvy rate, it seems.

Pick up "Rome 1960." If you're like me, you won't stop until you've read the whole thing - and you'll come away understanding just a little more about how we all got to this place we're standing in this strange new century.

Mr. Maraniss is a former reporter of the Washington Post and author of acclaimed biographies of Bill Clinton and Vince Lombardi. He is a wonderful writer and storyteller. With the approach of the 2008 Summer Games, "Rome, 1960" takes us back to a simple era, without the terrorism threats, outrageous commerialism and non-stop TV coverage. The Cold War was the backdrop and the author weaves in the stories of the athletes, the familiar and the unfamiliar. I don't know that these Olympics changed the world as Mr. Maraniss argues (the 1968 Games in Mexico City or the Munich Games in 1972 have a better claim) but the world has changed since then.

I am not particularly fond, overall, of sports literature and normally do not read in this particular genre, although, I must admit I enjoy watching sports, follow various sports year by year, and indeed, have been an overall participant in various sports, all my life, more so when I was younger. The Olympic games have always occupied a special place for me and the 1960 Olympics was the first one that I became truly aware of what was going on. My age at the time and the fact that I actually was able to watch many of the vents on television had much to do with this. That being said, I will admit to being a history nut and this work by David Maraniss is a history as much as it is a work about a particular sport.

The 1960 Olympics was held at a time when the world was on the cusp of great change. Not only in the United States were these changes about to take place, but the entire world was on the edge, and we were beginning one of those periodic watershed eras that come along every so often. New nations in Africa were being formed. The old Colonial powers had gasped their last and were no more. Governments were changing, attitudes were changing and the world was just beginning to become wired. There were two super powers at that time, the United States and Russia. These two countries were locked in a war, the Cold War and this war was at its height. These Olympics held in Rome, had this struggle of ideas as a constant backdrop and its presents was quite significant. The two Germanys, for the first time, were acting as a single team; not having completely split as they would soon do and the entire contest was not only the United States v/s Russia, but it was East v/s West.
Racism, sexism and all the other old evils of this world were alive and well. The games were still controlled by Avery Brundage and his band of "old guard." Brundage was truly a horrid man and represented the worse of the "ruling class" of the time and treated the Olympic movement as a private fiefdom and all those who participated as his own flock of surfs. Truly, in my opinion, and the author's as well, you could not have found a man, or group of men, who personified racism, sexism, arrogance, privileged class ethos and egotism more than Brundage and his cohorts.

The author's easy writing style makes this an easy, understandable and enjoyable read. As has been pointed out, each chapter is almost a news report, cum essay, on different aspect of these games; addressing individuals, events and the ever present political background. Many of the great names appear is this work; Wilma Rudolph. Lance Larson. Otis Davis, Herb Elliott, Cassius Clay, Rafer Johnson, C.K. Yang, Abebe Bikila, Al Oerter, the Tigerbelles and their coach Ed Temple, and many, many more (to name just a few) of the truly greats are written about, assessed and discussed. The author has given us a real feel for the times and has given us much to reflect over. Communications, training methods, attitudes toward different sexes and races, the beginnings of doping, how the athletes were treated and how various fans responded are all covered in this fine work.

I do take some umbrage with the assertion that these games change the world. I personally feel that these games were held at a time of change and that those who participated, at ever level, were merely reacting to the changes taking place rather that actually forcing the changes themselves. This is a mote point though and really has little to do with the actually book. It the subtitle upsets you, ignore it.

This was a very informative, well written, well researched work and it as truly a joy to read.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

The strong response of Amazon reviewers is definitely justified and cheers are in order for both the author and Simon and Schuster for bringing this book out just in time to coincide with the 2008 games. This is five-star historiography, with the perfect blend of biographical, cultural, political and athletic fact. Maraniss showcases the experience of a number of individuals (for American readers, Rafer Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, Cassius Clay, Avery Brundage, et al.) but situates that experience within its historical moment, a moment replete with racial overtones, cold war implications, doping allegations and other key elements. He tells you about the Roman weather and landscape, about the physical challenges and physical ailments of the athletes, their romantic connections, financial support (or non-support), their equipment, their friendships and their rivalries. He does not attempt to cover every last detail of the 1960 olympics. For example, while he quotes the gold medalist swimmer Bill Mulliken, he does not discuss Mulliken's unexpected, dark-horse victory. Nevertheless, this is a lovely read, with apt illustrations, historical point and significant human interest.

David Maraniss is one of the great nonfiction writers who has an outstanding talent for story telling which shows through in all of his books. My favorite still being, THEY MARCHED INTO SUNLIGHT. Maraniss in his latest on the Rome Olympics and in his previous book about baseball legend Roberto Clemente shows Maraniss has an eye for social history, especially civil rights, intolerance, and duplicity of those wishing to maintain the status quo. About half way through Rome 1960 I had to stop and say, I can not believe it... I am half way though a book on the Olympics and enjoying it immensely. I in fact, almost did not buy the book because it was just not a subject that appealed to me a great deal. How glad I am that I did read this interesting and fun book. The book bookends the narrative around Wilma Rudolph who had polio as a child, had a child out of wedlock, and yet became one of the greatest woman athletes of all time. Rafer Johnson is also highlighted as he became the first black to carry the American flag during the opening day ceremony. And tells of the cold war politics of the time with the Russians on the move and pointing out to the world how the United States treated it's minority citizens and how racism had to confront the truths of the a new era just beginning. Maraniss tells it all with insight, truth, and power and in a most entertaining way. What better time to read this than now... just before the Olympics of 2008. Keep on writing David Maraniss and I will keep on reading.

Maraniss defines the 1960 Olympics that changed the world not purely because of the political influence of the Cold War, that was obvious in 1936, but in describing the emergence of Russia as a dominant athletic power where the Soviet Union and the U.S. became the dominant medal winners and where the cold war rhetoric emerged more directly in the Olympics as they increasingly did over the next several. Other issues that came into the spotlight was the battle of the China's, National versus Communist requiring the former to accept a different name, the emergency of drug enhancements that resulted in the death of a Danish cyclist, the contrast in the dominance of black athletes such as Rafer Johnson and Wilma Rudolph and the Tennessee State contingent that included long jumper Ralph Boston with how they were treated in some parts of the country where blacks were still segregated, and the fascinating discussion of what was defined as amateur athletics that meant living virtually in poverty in the U.S. in stark contrast to a professional life style for many athletes in other countries. However, the greatest parts of the book are the individual stories of inspiring competitors such as Rudolph who fought off the effects of polio as a child to become the dominant sprinter in the games and won the crowd with her open and very likable personality. The author also describes the frustration of many athletes who are expected to win such as ray Norton who struggles valiantly but meets the definition perhaps of trying too hard as woman's track coach Ed Norton states that in the sprints, those that strain are defeated by those that can run relaxed. Other great stories and descriptions of great completions include Otis Davis who had very little experience in running internationally but wins a photo finish in the 400 meters. Many other great portrayals include swimmers such as Lance Larson who appears rooked out of a medal and diving champ Ingrid Kraemer from East Germany but on a trumped combined German team, the German brash sprinter Armin Hary who wins the 100 meters, the U.S. basketball team made up of some of the greatest stars of the future like Oscar Robertson and Jerry West, the wide open emergence of Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) who shouts that he will have Floyd Patterson "for dinner!", and of course the Ethiopian that shocked the world winning the marathon barefoot, Abebe Bikila. Bikila's win is ironic because along the course he passes a notable Ethiopian monument that was stolen by Mussolini's forces in the 1930s when Italy invaded Ethiopia. Fittingly, the climax of the book is Rafer Johnson's titanic battle against his college teammate from National China, C.K.Yang that comes down to the very last event, Yang's best. The book is complete with excellent photographs such as Australia's Herb Elliott shattering the 1500 meter field to the most poignant photo of all, Johnson and Yang at the end of their final event, Johnson with his head laying across Yang's shoulder for support as they appear to hold each other up after the exhausting competition, competitors but always friends. This is a highly readable book and it is well written. Obviously, more to the American view but well laced with interviews and discussions of notable athletes from al countries like the "Flying Sikh".

"Dad! Your name is in this book" That was a pleasant surprise. I bought the book because I was on the U.S. Cycling team for the Rome and Tokyo Olymics. I hadn't started reading it when my son, Chuck, made his discovery. Another book I had read recently dealt with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics as an importabt point in modern Japanese history. Inventing Japan: 1853-1964 (Modern Library Chronicles)Ian Buruma's 5 page prologue highlights that Olympic experience. I saw the marathon on various TV screens as I was going to different banks buying Olympic coins. Abe Bikela was the winner as he was in Rome except he wore shoes this time. The drama was that a Japanese runner, Tsubuya Kokichi, entered the stadium in second place. The crowd roared as he headed into the turn for the last lap. Then an English runner entered the stadium at a much faster pace than Kokichi. There was a very Japanese intake of breath by the thousands of fans. The Englishman passed Kokichi in the home stretch to claim second. Tsubuya Kokichi was one of two Japanese competitors that committed suicide because they felt they had failed to meet expectations.

The book Rome 1960 has enriched and expanded my experience as a participant and a spectator. Even if my name wasn't in the book I appreciated the connections I had with other named athletes and personalities. I succeeded where Rafer Johnson failed. I was in Spartacus, as an extra. The studio hired my NROTC unit to march as Roman soldiers.
Thanks to David Maraniss for his great book.

Wes Chowen

I teach a high school history elective called "Sports and Society." David Maraniss's "Rome 1960" was a perfect fit for such a course. Maraniss has found a compelling event full of fascinating characters and ripe with episodes that set the stage for the major developments in sports in the decades that would follow. Maraniss weaves issues of drugs, race, gender, politics, international diplomacy, commercialism, television, and religion throughout a narrative as engaging and exciting as the most hotly contested Olympic competition. The inspirational Wilma Rudolph, the brash young Cassius Clay, the poised and focused Rafer Johnson, the surprising Abebe Bakila, the haughty Avery Brundage, and a host of other athletes, coaches, and Olympic officials come to life vividly on the wide canvas Maraniss paints of these truly defining Olympic games. If you love sports and you love history, I guarantee you'll love this book.

David Maraniss is an associate editor at the Washington Post and a 1993 and 2008 Pulitzer Prize Winner. He is not only a very good writer, but also a very entertaining one. He tells the tale of the 1960 Olympics in Rome just fifteen years after the Italians lost the Second World War, when the Italians were hiding the remains of their fascist regime from the hundreds of thousands of spectators who came to Italy to view the games.
This was a time when the US and the Soviets were fighting to show the world which nation was a superior regime; when the Soviets seemed to be superior to the US in science and physical strength. These were the days when there was a heated dispute over two Chinas - the mainland and Taiwan - and the blacks in South Africa were beginning to stir and express their human rights. The year 1960 was a terrible year when American blacks and women faced daily discrimination.
Maraniss tells what seem to be well over two hundred fascinating incidences that occurred at the Olympics, just before it and just after, incidences that began to open the eyes of the world to how badly too-many people were being treated. For instance:
The Olympic committee stressed verbally that all people may participate and that there should be no discrimination based on religion or color, but the head of the Olympic Committee was a vicious anti-Semite and bigot. He called the great athlete Jesse Owens "boy." He accepted the ridiculous statement of the white South Africans that there were no blacks in all of South Africa who could qualify for the Olympics.
One of the American participants was Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, who was eighteen at the time. He talked all the time. People tried to stop him from talking by giving him sleeping pills, but they didn't work.
The Americans tried to entice one of the Soviet stars to defect, without success.
The issue of drugs came to the front at this Olympics: a cyclist died during a race because of the drugs he took to help him win, and officials tried to cover up the truth.
President Eisenhower tried to beat the Soviet's Nikita Khrushchev's warm greeting to the athletes, but failed dismally.
Blacks discriminated against in the US were winners at the Olympics, but many returned to the US to face continued discrimination and abuse.
Black girls on their way to the Olympics were not allowed to pee in white establishments in the south. They had to do so in the fields, beside the road they took to the plane that would fly them to fame outside the US.
The US trying to belie what everyone knew, that its people discriminated against blacks, had a black man lead their athletes and carry the American flag in the initial march at the Olympics. The crowd applauded loudly.
However, the Soviets drew greater applause from the crowd by marching only their prettiest girls dressed in their most fetching attire.
While a great power, the US was clearly cheated out of winning a swim contest. The officials declared the person who came in second as the winner.
One of the most dramatic events was when a short black man from Ethiopia ran the 26 plus mile marathon against the best men that the world could produce without shoes, bare foot because he could not find shoes that fit him, and won.
Maraniss gives his readers many pieces of information. For example, the legend that the marathon race of 26 plus miles commemorates the run of an Athenian man from Marathon to Athens to alert his countrymen of impending danger, is not true; Lord Byron fabricated the story in the nineteenth century.
The soviets beat the US in metals achieved. This led the new American president Kennedy to speak about "the soft American." The US began to become interested in health and many studies confirmed the president's assessment. Studies showed that American children fared far worse in strength and flexibility than their European counterparts. The move to improve children's health was one of many changes that occurred as a result of the 1960 Olympics.