I love trivia and factoids. My subjects have always been classics, language, science and nature, with modern culture and entertainment a distant fourth place. Sports (for me) was a never-ran. In fact, on my pub trivia team, nobody ever listens to me on the sports questions. I should've committed this book to memory. Journalist sports writer Fuchs has assembled a pretty staggering array of facts and tidbits from Olympic history. The entries are arranged thematically: (forgotten) history, standout legends, wild and strange, firsts, discontinued sports (some real howlers included here), and forgotten heroes. Each of the chapters includes a dizzying array of facts and interludes about olympic games from the past, when and where, who and sometimes why.
The writing is clear and engaging, Mr. Fuchs has a good sense of humor and ties the history together in an entertaining fashion. The book is full of historical photos and facsimiles of documents. There's a very useful collection of medalists by sport, with winners arranged chronologically, in the back of the book. There is, naturally, an index included, to facilitate finding information.
The publication date has been pushed back ostensibly to coordinate with the Tokyo olympic games, in 2021.
Five stars. This is a comprehensive guide, full of useful photos, and very good at its stated purpose.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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