The political tension of the Cold War bled into the Olympic Games when each side engaged in psychological warfare, exploiting sport for political ends. In Helsinki, the Soviet Union nearly overtook the United States in the medal count. Caught off guard, the U.S. hastened to respond, certain that the Soviets would use a victory at the next Olympics to broadcast their superiority over the Western world.Following the 1956 suppression of the Hungarian uprising, a Soviet athlete struck ...

The ascent of globalisation tells the sweeping historical drama of the development of globalisation, from the Second World War to the present day.The story is told through the richly detailed accounts of eighteen remarkable men and women, describing how these architects reshaped the modern world, for better or worse. Profiling their lives, ideas and struggles reveals fresh insights into the nature of globalisation.The book also examines their legacies, shedding new...

The year 1968 was ablaze with passion and mayhem as protests erupted in Paris and Prague, throughout the United States, and in cities on all continents. The Summer Olympic Games in Mexico were to be a moment of respite from chaos. But the image of peace – a white dove – adopted by organizers was an illusion, as was obvious to a record six hundred million people watching worldwide on satellite television. Ten days before the opening ceremony, soldiers slaughtered hundreds of student protest...

The "scrupulously detailed" (Los Angeles Times) story of how the fight to build Dodgers Stadium, and transform Los Angeles into a big league city, came at the cost of everyday AngelenosDodger Stadium is an American icon. But the story of how it came to be goes far beyond baseball. The hills that cradle the stadium were once home to three vibrant Mexican American communities. In the early 1950s, those communities were condemned to make way for a utopian pub...

The definitive book about soccer, from the author of The Games: A Global History of the Olympics.There may be no cultural practice more global than soccer. Rites of birth and marriage are infinitely diverse, but the rules of soccer are universal. No world religion can match its geographical scope. The single greatest simultaneous human collective experience is the World Cup final.In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full s...

GOOOAAAAAL! Get ready for a front-row seat at the world's most-watched sporting event--the World Cup.Every four years, thirty-two of the best men's soccer teams from across the globe compete for the title of FIFA World Cup winner. Over one billion people tuned in worldwide to watch the final game of the 2014 competition, making the World Cup the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, exceeding even the Summer Olympics! This book takes a look back at what h...

Soccer is much more than just the most popular game in the world. It is a matter of life and death for millions around the world, an international lingua franca. Simon Kuper traveled to twenty-two countries to discover the sometimes bizarre effect soccer can have on politics and culture. At the same time he tried to discover what makes different countries play a simple game so differently. Kuper meets a remarkable variety of fans along the way, from the East Berliner persecuted by the Stas...

Tracing Canadian men’s soccer’s emergence from global obscurity to international powerhouse, featuring insight from star players like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David and manager John Herdman.The last time Canada qualified for a men’s World Cup was in 1986. For a generation afterwards, the Canadian national men’s soccer team struggled in obscurity, an afterthought in a country that was not yet soccer-mad. The twenty-first century brought a wave of soccer passion ...

In 'The World Cup, A Very Peculiar History', author David Arscott tackles the big subjects at the heart of the beautiful game, including how the tournament first kicked off, the dirty tactics used throughout the years and the most memorable managers in the history of football. Filled to the brim with quirky quotes, fantastic facts and surprising statistics, this is the perfect accompaniment to any post-match celebration (or commiseration!) during the season. At its heart 'The World Cup, A ...

A Fascinating account of a great sporting life and an insider's look at the byzantine world of soccer politics. The essential Australian story of the World Game - Bob CarrJohnny Warren received an MBE (1973), ASM (2000) Centenary Medal (2001), OAM (2003) and the FIFA Order of Merit (2004)Johnny Warren is a credit to Australia and the game that he loves. His is a great story which I heartily recommend to all sports fans - Martin TylerFrom a nine-year-old who was init...

“A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book ReviewA Boston Globe Best Book of the YearA Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the YearThe Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and hi...

An all-encompassing, chronological guide to football's World Cup, one of the world's few truly international events, in good time for the June 2018 kick-off in Russia. From its beginnings in 1930 to the modern all-singing, all-dancing self-styled 'greatest show on Earth', every tournament is covered with features on major stars and great games, as well as stories about some less celebrated names and quirky stats and intriguing essays.Holt's focus is very much on what takes place on...