A PASSION FOR VICTORY

A PASSION FOR VICTORY: THE STORY OF THE OLYMPICS IN ANCIENT AND EARLY MODERN TIMES, by Benson Bobrick (Knopf/Random House 2012)(ages 10+). In this year of the XXXth Games of the Modern Era, Benson Bobrick looks back on the history of the Olympics from its origins in ancient Greece to its reawakening in 1896.

Bobrick's accounts of both the ancient and early modern games (up to 1948) is fascinating, filled with anecdotes about athletes the politic of the day.  A must-read for anyone interested in how today's Olympics came to be. (And, personally, I wish they would bring back chariot racing.).