496
pages, Simon & Schuster, ISBN-13: 978-1416534075
The
world is changing so fast right now that most of us can barely keep up with the
daily news that affects our lives, jobs and future. So, it's a rare and
wonderful treat when a book comes along that carries us back to a time and
place when the world changed more slowly – to show us one of those events that
truly did change our global culture. When such books come along, they're
usually about wars, but not this new gem by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David
Maraniss. In his book Rome 1960: The
Olympics That Changed the World, Maraniss shows how Rome in 1960 ranks
right up there as a milestone in world culture.
Mr.
Maraniss is a former reporter of the Washington Post and author of acclaimed
biographies of Bill Clinton and Vince Lombardi. He is a wonderful writer and
storyteller. With the approach of the 2008 Summer Games, Rome 1960 takes us back to a simple era, without the terrorism
threats, outrageous commercialism and non-stop TV coverage. The Cold War was
the backdrop and the author weaves in the stories of the athletes, the familiar
and the unfamiliar. I don't know that these Olympics changed the world as Mr.
Maraniss argues (the 1968 Games in Mexico City or the Munich Games in 1972 have
a better claim) but the world has changed since then.
The
1960 Olympics was held at a time when the world was on the cusp of great
change. Not only in the United States were these changes about to take place,
but the entire world was on the edge, and we were beginning one of those
periodic watershed eras that come along every so often. New nations in Africa were
being formed. The old Colonial powers had gasped their last and were no more.
Governments were changing, attitudes were changing and the world was just
beginning to become wired. There were two super powers at that time, the United
States and Russia. These two countries were locked in a war, the Cold War and
this war was at its height. These Olympics held in Rome, had this struggle of
ideas as a constant backdrop and its presents was quite significant. The two
Germanys, for the first time, were acting as a single team; not having
completely split as they would soon do and the entire contest was not only the
United States v/s Russia, but it was East v/s West.
Racism,
sexism and all the other old evils of this world were alive and well. The games
were still controlled by Avery Brundage and his band of Old Guard. Brundage was
truly a horrid man and represented the worse of the ruling class of the time
and treated the Olympic movement as a private fiefdom and all those who
participated as his own flock of surfs. Truly, in my opinion, and the author's
as well, you could not have found a man, or group of men, who personified
racism, sexism, arrogance, privileged class ethos and egotism more than
Brundage and his cohorts.
The
author's easy writing style makes this an easy, understandable and enjoyable
read. As has been pointed out, each chapter is almost a news report, cum essay,
on different aspect of these games; addressing individuals, events and the ever
present political background. Many of the great names appear is this work;
Wilma Rudolph. Lance Larson. Otis Davis, Herb Elliott, Cassius Clay, Rafer
Johnson, C.K. Yang, Abebe Bikila, Al Oerter, the Tigerbelles and their coach Ed
Temple, and many, many more (to name just a few) of the truly greats are written
about, assessed and discussed. The author has given us a real feel for the
times and has given us much to reflect over. Communications, training methods,
attitudes toward different sexes and races, the beginnings of doping, how the
athletes were treated and how various fans responded are all covered in this
fine work.
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