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A History of the Olympics

By: John Goodbody Barry
Narrated by: Barry Davies
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Publisher's summary

This unique audiobook history of the Olympics, first issued in 2008, has been updated to include the Beijing Olympics and released to coincide with the London event. Written by the prize-winning sports journalist John Goodbody, and with a fascinating personal documentary featuring one of Britain's leading Olympians, Sebastian Coe, who is now heading the 2012 Games, this is an ideal opener!

Goodbody, for many years chief sports news writer for the Times, has covered every Olympics since 1964. In this entertaining and informative account, he tells the main stories of each of the modern Olympics. Here are some of the heroes and heroines who have made sporting history, as well as the main disasters and scandals that attend the world’s greatest sporting event.

©2012 John Goodbody (P)2012 Naxos AudioBooks
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Editorial reviews

In chronological, orderly fashion, the evolution of the Summer Games is laid out, from its modern inception in Athens in 1896 through its return to the Greek capital in 2004. Listeners will hear of classic competitions in various sports, pervasive themes, many brief anecdotes, and occasional opinions. Barry Davis announces the history in an enjoyable, breezy manner. Breaks between years are given a few seconds of appropriate music representing that year's Olympics. The only missing component - the Winter Games - could be a separate volume; indeed, it would have been too much here. An especially articulate interview with middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe ends things well.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Better than expected...

So, I kept putting this off and off but when I finally took the time to listen it, I realized the book is actually quite intriguing. Filled with interesting facts and historical references dating back to the very first Olympics, this work is well-done and the narrator does a great job as well. My only regret, the book only focuses on the summer Olympics, which is certainly disappointing to a winters-sports' guy like myself.

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