''Here is a book that is as readable as it is profound, casting a majestic sweep over the Games from 1896.''--G. E. Murray, Sporting Traditions ''A wonderfully insightful, judicious, and interpretative essay.''--Steve Gietschier, Sporting News ''Guttmann, one of the finest historians of sport in the United States and Europe, and a recognized authority on the Olympics, has produced a sound, readable narrative that will appeal to scholars as well as to general readers.''--Randy Roberts, coauthor of Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America since 1945ADVANCE PRAISE for 1st edition ''Guttmann, one of the finest historians of sport in the United States and Europe, and a recognized authority on the Olympics, has produced a sound, readable narrative that will appeal to scholars as well as to general readers.''--Randy Roberts, coauthor of Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America since 1945