A very good book about this Olympics. With so much to cover.

The hypocrisy of Avery Brundage, first on display toward overlooking the Nazis' anti-Semitism at Berlin in 1936, now overlooks question about whether Soviet-bloc state-sponsored sport violates the spirit, or even the letter, of amateurism.

First, and already known to me ...

Ethopian Abebe Bikela winning the marathon in the capital city of the nation that conquered his 25 years before.

One of the greatest decathlon duels ever.

The atmosphere in la dolce vita.

Second, and not known to me before ...

The first "doping scandal" — a Danish cyclist died, apparently in part due to the heat, but primarily to taking a blood circulation drug, already rumored to be fairly common among top cyclists.

Other doping rumors, most notably of steroids by Soviet weight lifters and a few others.

The first shoe switch-a-roo, with 100m champ Armin Hary playing Puma and Adidas (started by brothers, which I didn't know) off against each other.

The rise in sports prowess of the USSR.

Anyway, I've not given away everything in this book by any means.

It's a legitimate 4.5 stars, and I gave it the bump because of the number of low reviews.