"Taylor has produced a unique and compelling history of Jewish sporting achievement. He reveals how Jewish athletes have had to combat not only their Olympic competitors, but also an enduring, often lethal, anti-Semitism." -- Colin Tatz, sports historian and author of Obstacle Race: Aborigines in Sport. "Engrossing, innovative and original. Paul Taylor provides a fascinating glimpse into a neglected aspect of the modern Jewish experience; a window into a tumultuous and traumatic century. Through memoir, biography and careful reconstruction, he weaves a moving and dramatic tale, tracing the worlds and lives of Jewish Olympiads. Filled with bravery and pathos. Jewish fencers, athletes and swimmers straddle the stage. Inevitably Hitler's games and the Munich tragedy loom large. But Nordau's 'muscular Judaism' is at last realized." -- Milton Shain, Professor of Modern Jewish History, University of Cape Town. "Makes good use of the published sources and brings them to bear on the Jewish angle." -- Choice.
Product Description
No story so richly illustrates the interaction between sport and politics as the story of Jewish athletes and the Games. Here, each major event at the Games related to the Jews is covered in-depth, including: the story of the Jewish-Hungarian wrestler Karoly Karpati in Berlin, 1936; the German-Jewish high-jumper Gretel Bergmann, who was callously exploited, then discarded, by the Germans; the American sprinters, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller; and the legendary Mark Spitz. From the first Olympics in Athens in 1896, through to the disasters and triumphs of Munich 1972 and beyond, "Jews and the Olympic Games", which features a list of the more than 250 Jewish medallists at the Games, is a powerful account of the conflict between sport and politics.
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