Complete Book of the Summer Olympics (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This ultimate sports reference has anecdotes from every sport, stats and scores for the top finishers in every event of every summer Olympics since 1896. Includes complete coverage of discontinued events, national medal totals, concise descriptions of the rules and scoring for 1996, and more than 200 classic photos of Olympic athletes. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

An indispensable addition to the shelves of both sportswriters and serious fans ... an extremely meticulous -- one may even say Olympian -- piece of scholarship. -- New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1024 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585670464
• ISBN-13: 978-1585670468
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.6 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,767,001 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will reach for this every 5 minutes in September, August 21, 2000

By	B. Davis (NY, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All those moments you'll see that bring back Olympic memories you can't quite pin down--this is where to answer those nagging questions, and to get comprehensive background info. This will increase your viewing pleasure so much. And it gives you something productive to do with your time when NBC is going "up close and personal," or gassing about "honor," or showing rhythmic gymnastics or water polo. We get a new edition every 4 years.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on sports I have ever read!, October 4, 2000

By	B. Field (Camino, California) - See all my reviews

When I first bought this book, I thought it would be like all of my other Olympic Resources. Giving some imformation, but not every detail you could want. This book replaces all of my others when it comes to stats, politics in the olympics, drugs, and others. Although not having many pictures, it makes up for all of the wonderful info it contains. Tell me that you knew that only 1 country entered in the, get this, a team parallel bar competition in 1896. I reccomend it to anyone.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DON'T WAIT-BUY IT NOW, September 5, 2000

By	Joanne Cornelison "cornie9197" (Cheyenne, WY USA) - See all my reviews

If you are interested in the history, politics, rules of the games, and human-interest stories of the modern Olympics, this is the book to have by your side while you watch the games this September.

I bought this book to research a trivia question, started reading it, and couldn't put it down. Never having been too interested in sports or the Olympics, I was surprised how quickly I was caught up in Wallechinsky's book. Now, I can't wait for the games to begin.