NAZI GAMES

This book describes the 1936 Olympic Games that took place in Berlin Germany. At the time, Berlin was under Adolf Hitler's control, which made for an extremely interesting yet controversial Olympics. Many countries (United States included) tried to boycott and even move the Olympics out of Germany because they knew what Hitler was doing and felt that competing in the games would be supporting Hitler and his followers. Hitler however was one step ahead of the world. He made many public statements promising that there wold be no discrimination at the Games, and even put a few Jews on German teams to prove to the world that there would be in fact no discrimination. By studying the 1936 games in the present time, it is very clear that Hitler used the games as  propaganda, and tried to present his beliefs on the world stage. This was a very dense and difficult read and I would only recommend it to those who are extremely interested in this time period and specifically Hitler and his followers. 

-Cleopatra

Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics that Stirred the World

Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics that Stirred the World, by David Maraniss, vividly describes the events that took place before, during, and after the Summer Olympic Games of 1960. Taking place in Rome at the height of the Cold War, the supposedly non-political games became a battleground for the propaganda war between the United States and Soviet Union. Throughout the book, Maraniss describes the central events that ended in a face-off between the USSR and US, and how the outcome of these events were used by each nation to either promote or degrade the Communist lifestyle.

While the book primarily focuses on the conflict between the rival nations, it also discusses the planning of the Games, the paths that some American athletes took to the most prestigious athletic competition in the world, and the countless underdog success stories that took place during competition. Maraniss also describes the outcomes of the most popular Olympic events including track and field, swimming, diving, basketball.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has any interest in sports, Cold War politics, or both. While it is a bit lengthy, coming in at just under 400 pages, Maraniss' vivid descriptions of each event make the pages fly by. The book is perfectly balanced between explaining the action and politics of the events, keeping the reader very entertained. Rome 1960 is also incredibly well researched, and the reader often feels as though they are sitting in the stadium witnessing the competition first-hand.

-Sacagawea