A Passion for Victory

A Passion for Victory: the story of the Olympics in Ancient and Early Modern Times by Benson Bobrick

from netgallies

So I read this advanced reader copy online from NetGalley, and I can say that I learned a lot and found this to be a fun and very educational book on the Olympics from its inception (a celebration to honour the Greek god Zeus, to how things have fallen apart along the way, to the idea of including winter sports.) I now know the following: originally foot races were run in the nude, wrestling went on for hours (I'm talking seven or eight hours), the orginal discus was three time the weight it is now and was thrown from standing still position, chariat races were included in some of the early games, dumbbells were used in long jump, some of the first womens events were tennis and crochet. There's so much more but I guess you will have to discover some of these curiousities for yourself - the book is on order for us.

Things I liked: I learned alot about the Olympics, famous Olympians, curious beginnings, odd events, interesting photos.

Things I wasn't crazy about: sometimes I thought it was text heavy - for me that was okay, but for middle school readers who want to find just those fun bits it will be challenging.