The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies

'The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies authoritatively debunks the myth of the world's greatest mega-event as a benign, universally-shared cultural property and critically exposes how it has always represented a barometer of the shifting political, social, cultural, economic and global constellations of modern and late capitalist sport. This collection provides a comprehensive assessment of the modern Olympics from its ideologically-driven inception through the recent, global resistance to leadership corruption, sex and drug testing, and the creation ofthe movement's new social media infrastructure. This book is mandatory reading for policy makers, event practitioners, scholars, students and all people interested in understanding the past, present and future of the Olympics.' - Steven Pope, co-editor of The Routledge Companion to Sports History and author of Patritoic Games: Sporting Traditions in the American Imagaination, 1876-1926

'The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies is essential reading for anyone looking for a critical assessment of Olympic history, practice and theory. It covers the key issues in depth, explores alternatives and refuses to be seduced by orthodoxy or invented tradition. It is a must for any Olympic bookshelf.' - Tony Collins, Director of the International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, UK

'Editors Stephen Wagg and Helen Lenskyj bring together a number of internationally respected scholars each offering a unique and compelling critique of the Olympic movement. Individual chapters include historical and contemporary analyses of the Olympic and Para-Olympic Games as related to such diverse themes as: national and local imaginings, inequality and human rights, new media, globalization, enviornmentalism and sustainability, neoliberalism, security and fears of terrorism, corruption, and performance enhancing drugs. As a whole The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies shows that behind the veneer of the Olympic ideal said to promote international peace, understanding and unity is a global commercial spectacle embedded in a web of hierarchical social, political, and economic relations. This provocative anthology should be required reading for anyone interested in a critical understanding of the Olympic movement.' - Mary G. McDonald, Professor, Miami University, USA, and past president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport

'At last! An impressive encyclopaedic work covering the good, bad, beautiful and the ugly in Olympism. For athletes and fans, for critics and sceptics, everything is here: de Courbetin's early visions, amateurism, class, gender, disabilities, environment, drugs, globalisation, the enterprise and the marketing, Asian host cities, the Cold War, and Nazi Games.' - Colin Tatz, Professor, University of New South Wales, Australia

'This is, in the reviewer's opinion, simply the best single serious volume on the study of the Olympic Games movement produced to date...This has to be a must for all libraries covering sport. With the considerable public interest in the Olympic Games, it will be well used by all sections of the community school children undertaking projects, students studying sport, descriptive and investigative journalists wanting to have context or understanding of what the Olympic Games are all about and planners understanding the processes and consequences of hosting, benefitting and/or suffering from sporting events.' - Reference Reviews

"The Palgrave Handbook of Olympic Studies is a welcome addition to an increasingly complex and growing body of literature and is one which will help shape the field through more critically informed analyses." - Vassil Girginov, International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics