More than Just Games

"More than Just Games proves that the story of Canada and the 1936 Olympics is a compelling one that needs to be told." -- Dana Herman, Ph.D., The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives "Menkis and Troper have made an enormously important contribution to Canadian studies with More than Just Games. This is a very good book, and one whose themes are of considerable interest in the social history of this country." -- Gerald Tulchinsky, Department of History, Queen's University "A thoroughly researched, carefully argued, and engrossingly written account of Canada's encounter with the Nazi Olympics. What's particularly helpful is the way Menkis and Troper place the debates and initiatives within the sport, political, and Jewish communities in the context of the times. We should have done better, but there's no ahistorical condemnation here. It's very judicious." -- Bruce Kidd, Principal, University of Toronto Scarborough, and Olympian "More than Just Games is more than just another book about that most controversial of Olympiads, the German Games of 1936. In exploring for the first time Canada's role in the Garmisch and Berlin festivals, Menkis and Troper remind us why the Olympic Five-Ring Circus is the most problematical, as well as the most intriguing, sports show on earth. A compelling story, brilliantly told." -- David Clay Large, Institute of European Studies, University of California Berkeley, and author of 'Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936'

More than Just Games brings to life the collision of politics, patriotism, and the passion of sport on the eve of the Second World War.

Held in Germany, the 1936 Olympic Games sparked international controversy. Should athletes and nations boycott the games to protest the Nazi regime? More Than Just Games is the history of Canada’s involvement in the 1936 Olympics. It is the story of the Canadian Olympic officials and promoters who were convinced that national unity and pride demanded that Canadian athletes compete in the Olympics without regard for politics. It is the story of those Canadian athletes, mostly young and far more focused on sport than politics, who were eager to make family, friends, and country proud of their efforts on Canada’s behalf. And, finally, it is the story of those Canadians who led an unsuccessful campaign to boycott the Olympics and deny Nazi Germany the propaganda coup of serving as an Olympic host.

Written by two noted historians of Canadian Jewish history, Richard Menkis and Harold Troper, More than Just Games brings to life the collision of politics, patriotism, and the passion of sport on the eve of the Second World War.