The fifth edition of the publisher's series dealing with the Olympic Movement contains much of the same material that previous editions are known for, including hundreds of A-Z entries providing relevant details about athletes, countries, sports, dates, commentators, organizations, and related subjects. This reference book is a good place for beginners to do general research on the Olympics, with a ... Read morechronology going back to 1100 BC and forward to 2020. Offering a few black-and-white photos throughout the text, authors Grasso (an Olympic historian), Mallon (a former professional golfer), and Heijmans (an IT professional) focus on athletes from the 19th and early 20th centuries. A number of athletes are not included, however (e.g., American ice skater Dick Button is mentioned but not Peggy Fleming or Dorothy Hamill, other than their listing in an appendix on final Olympic torchbearers). Most entries average approximately a half page in length, although some are considerably longer (e.g., ‘Women at the Olympics’ or ‘Olympic Finance’ are six and eight pages, respectively). Very short entries appear on the future games in 2016, 2018, and 2020. Because the book is user friendly and contains many cross-references, the new information warrants purchase of a new edition. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic and general audiences.
CHOICE
This fifth edition has nearly 200 more pages than the fourth edition. There’s a lot of information: a chronology starting in ancient Greece, a section that discusses each modern summer and winter Olympics; and an A-Z dictionary that includes athletes, countries, different commissions, events, and mascots.... Recommended.
American Reference Books Annual
Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement fifth edition is quality work and an exhaustive overview of the Olympics…. [It] will be of interest to a range of libraries and researchers including: high school, public, and university libraries…. Overall, Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement is a solid book and serves as comprehensive high-level overview of the Olympics and its history, while providing highly detailed and nuanced information about athletes, events and more. Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement is recommended for libraries, experts and fans.
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