The Olympic Spirit

With an obvious eye on Atlanta 96 this is a comprehensive look at the history of the Olympics and some of the major stories and characters over the years. Starting with the Ancient Games in Olympia and moving through de Coubertin's vision, the book goes on to cover both Summer and Winter Olympics, although there is a heavy concentration on athletics. Most of the stories focus on achievement, success (often in the face of adversity) and friendly rivalry, so whilst there is a spread on 'Cheats' including Ben Johnson and Onischensko of the doctored foil, there's no room here for the political protests, boycotts and terrorism which have sullied some of the more recent Games. Clearly designed with two or three main stories on each spread, fact boxes for further information and a very comprehensive index, this is an excellent introduction to the topic for Year 6 and above.