You might just have noticed that the Olympics are coming to London this year and it’s just around the corner! The city is about to be packed to the brim with excited sports fans, super fit athletes and gleaming new venues. After years of preparation and mounting excitement, everyone is now (hopefully!) ready for the party of a lifetime. With that in mind we’ve picked a great collection of books to get readers into the sporting spirit – Go Team GB!   

London is the first ever city to host the Olympics three times and these two fascinating gems from Sportbooks show just how far we’ve come since the UK previously hosted games in 1908 and 1948. The first games took place in London when the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 stopped them going to Rome, as funds for building Olympic facilities were diverted to Naples to help rebuild the city. Author Keith Baker digs out some juicy Olympic scandals and also highlights the lives of some of the great competitors and personalities who made the event unique. 

The 1948 Olympics became known as the “austerity games”. Britain was still suffering the after effects of the war: rationing was still in operation, and instead of being luxuriously chauffeured through special lanes athletes were dodging bomb sites to get to their venues! Yet London took on the Games and staged them successfully. For the amateur athletes who competed in those games, today’s multi-billion pound extravaganza is a world away from their own experiences.  

 

The amazing and controversial account of an athlete who stood up for what he believed in. In the 1968 games, John Carlos and Tommie Smith defiantly made history when they gave the Black Power salute at the medal ceremony and produced one of the most iconic images in Olympic history. This tells John Carlos’ remarkable story in his own words, finally introducing readers to the man behind the salute.