Olympics in Athens 1896: The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games - Couverture rigide

Llewellyn Smith KCVO CMG, Sir Michael

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 186197342X ISBN 13 : 9781861973429

Editeur : Profile Books Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

Published in the year that The Olympics returned to Athens this is the illuminating story of the making of the modern games, the multinational group of intriguing characters who re-invented them and the first generation of new sporting heroes. 'On 5 April 1896 James B. Connolly of the Suffolk Athletic Club, Boston, projected himself 13 m and 71 cm through the Attic air in the newly restored Panathenaic Stadium of Athens, in the hop, step and jump, and became the first Olympic victor for more than 1500 years.' That opening sentence gives the flavour of a rich and often entertaining work of history that brings together the following intriguing strands: the rise of amateur athletics in Britain, the US, France, Germany and other western countries, each with its own particular stamp; the enormous interest aroused by the excavation of ancient Olympia, the site of the ancient Games; the determination of the eccentric French aristocrat Baron Pierre de Coubertin to embody the amateur athletic ideal in a revival of the Games; and a perception by politicians and the Greek royal family that hosting Coubertin's Games could help to put the young Greek state on the European map.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Michael Llewellyn Smith has been British Ambassador in Warsaw and in Athens. He writes and lectures on Greek history and culture. His books include The Great Island; A Study of Crete and Ionian Vision: Greece in Asia Minor 1919-22.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Profile Books Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2004
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 186197342X
• ISBN 13: 9781861973429
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 304
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible