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The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition | 
 enlarge | Authors: David Wallechinsky, Jaime Loucky
Publisher: Aurum Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $19.77
You Save: $10.18 (34%)
New (15) Used (1) from $19.77
Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 12348
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2008 Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1200
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.2
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 7.1 x 2.2
ISBN: 1845133307
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.48
EAN: 9781845133306
ASIN: 1845133307
Publication Date: May 28, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks
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Product Description
With a complete statistical record since the 1896 founding of the modern Games—including medals won and times, distances, or scores recorded by the top eight competitors in all events (from staples such as the marathon to long-discontinued competitions such as the tug of war), this encyclopedic tome contains anything anyone could ever need or want to know about the modern Olympic Games. Far from a dry compendium of names, numbers, and scoring systems, this book also contains a summary history of every event at each of the 26 modern Games, enriched with an extraordinary wealth of Olympic lore and anecdote. The authors provide thought-provoking analysis of issues and controversies from shamateurism to drug-taking and corruption, and they have sieved through more than a century of Olympic history to assemble a mind-boggling collection of stories that range from the inspiring, through the comic, to the bizarre. Such long-forgotten characters are included as the boy who was plucked from the streets of Paris to navigate for two Dutch oarsmen in the paired-oar event in 1900 and, after steering them to victory and a Gold Medal, returned to obscurity, his name unknown to this day; or the 72-year-old winner of a silver medal for target-shooting.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Neat book July 8, 2008
I really liked this book; however, it was more of an almanac than a picture book. Very cool.
 Two Important Improvements June 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The last few editions of this book were titled "The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics", because the winter Olympic Games were covered in a separate volume. They still are. Perhaps the previous publisher wouldn't let the current one use the word "summer" in the title. But that is a minor quibble.
Two long-need changes have finally been made to this quadrennially updated reference. These alone make it worth purchasing. First, after the listings for track and field events, the remaining sports are listed alphabetically. Previously, sports were placed in various groupings, such as "aquatics", "team sports", and "individual sports". For some sports, trying to find the proper group in the table of contents was a nightmare. Second, every odd-numbered page has guidewords at the top that tells the user which sport and event's results are listed on it. For example, on page 511 is the advisory, "Cycling: Men's Road Time Trial". Now users don't have to flip through page after page, wondering which results they are looking at.
Best Olympic Resource Book! June 16, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the best Olympic resource book around. If you are an Olympic fan this is the book for you.
This book is updated through the 2004 Summer Olympics June 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an excellent resource for ALL the Summer Olympic Games. Contrary to what is said in a previous, much older review, this edition of Wallechinsky's book is complete through the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Very Complete, Well Researched January 1, 2002
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Although this book is out of date (1988 is the last games covered), it is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the complete Olympic results. It covers information about each participant in each event and has excellent stories to boot. For example, did you know Grace Kelly's father, Jack, won a gold medal in a rowing event? Or that Hilter made a pass at the American winner of the women's 100-yard dash in 1936?
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