An Athletics Compendium

C 6 - 1 4 The ModemOlympic Games<&World Championships 6 The Olympic Games anthde Duke of Westminster's appeal for ^100,000: haistorical survey of themovement for better organization tihne British preparationsfor the Berlin Games of 1916, compilefrdom The Times and official sources. London:]. BPla.nd, 1913. 44p BL: Mic.A.11037(16) (microfilmcopy) This is a work of exceptional significance, being a detailed account Borfitish preparations for the 1916 Berlin Olympics. In 1915, the British Olympic Association, unhappy with the results of the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, sought £100,000 by public subscription to prepare a team for the 1916Berlin Games and to fund future Olympic preparation programmes. Itnhe event, they raisoendly a tenth of that amount ansd aresult the Scottish-Canadian Highland Games all-rounder R.WK. noxwas appointed as AAAchief coach in 1914. Knox's appointment was terminated by the onset Woforld War I and no record of his work remains. The book is significant for its account of the arguments in the columns of The Times on the advisability of Olympic preparations, anids required reading for the sportshistorian. It reveals adeeply rooted xenophobia. 7 The evolution of the Olympic Games, 1829 B.C.-1914 A.D. / F. A. M. Webster. London: Heath, Cranton & Ouseley, 1914. xi, 288p; illus; index Preface by Arthur ConanDoyle BL: 07906.eee.34 Intended as an introduction to the ill-fated Vlth Olympiad at Berlin in 1916, the book deals with athletics from the earliest times. A short accounIts given of the birth of modern athletics and the formation of the AAA. Each of the modern Olympic festivals is describeadnd full results are given. There are photographsof the various stadia anpdrint of the milerace athe Inter-Varsity sports of 1&65. 8 Olympic cavalcade / F. A. M. Webster; foreword by Sir Harold Bowden. LondonH: utchinson, 1948. 243p; illus BL:7919.bb.12 One of the prolific Websterl'asst books, thispossibly the only onein which he expresses any stronopginion on the administration Broiftish athletics anodn its attitude to coaching. He observes that both the Germans (with Kraenzlein) and the Swedes (with Hjertberg) had appointed professional Olympic coaches as early as the 1910-1916 period: 'Great Britain lost a great chance by not taking on Hjertberg when he was willing to cometo us, and not making better use of the late MSaumssabini ...'. Nowhere inhis previous writing-s Webster had written over thirty books and innumerable articles and pamphlets - thisere more than a hint of the resistance, thseheer bloody-minded obduracy which the British athletics establishment must have presented to him in his advocacy in the 1912-1945 eriod of his coaching life. Yehtere, inthe final year of is life, Webster opensout at las'Tt,here is neither time or scope in my philosophy for the unpaid amateurs ... interfering in the management and training or the final selection of a nation's Olympic team.' Webster's protege, the visionary AAA Chief Coach G. H. G. Dyson, appointed in1947, wabsattole with these 'unpaid amateurs' over the next fifteen years, as were many great coaches who followed him. 9 Olympic story: the definitive story of the Olympic Games fromtheir revival in 1896, illustrated, wiathn appendix of resultsand records / edited by Ernest A. Bland; foreword by J. Sigfrid Edstrom. London: Rockliff, 1948. xiii, 252p; illus BL: 7918.bb.40 Contributors includFered Dartnell, BenBennison and H. J. Oaten. The boowkas re-issued later inthe same year with theresults of the 1946 events, 10 The story of the Olympic Gam/es Ralph D. Binfield. London: Oxford University Press, 1948. 184p; illus BL: 7917.f.7 11 Olympics old and new/ W. M. Hugill, reprintefdrom The Phoenix. 1949. 9p; pbk BL; 7919.ee.32 This essay considers the connection between the ancient and modern Olympic Games, quoting both advocates and critics of the modemrevival, including Philip J. Baker(1912). Special mention is made of the introduction of Olympic competitions in architecture, painting, music, sculpture and literature. 12 Olympic odyssey: the Olympic stoarsytold by the stars themselves from 1896 to 195/6 compiled and edited by Stan Tomlin; foreword by LoBrdurghley. Croydon: Modern Athlete on behaolf Bovril, 1956. 96p; illus BL: 7923.aaa.4 Contributors: Sir G. Stuart Robertson, Emil Breitkreutz (USAA), rnold Strode-Jackson, AlGbe. rt Hill, Guy Butler, Tommy Hampson, Bobby Tisdall, Harold Whitlock, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Dorothy Tyler. Notable for rare first hand accounts f the early Olympics. 13 Highlights of the Olympicfsrom ancient timetso the present / John Durant. London: Arco, 1961. 160p; illus; index BL: X.449/1003 A somewhat disjointed account of the heroes and heroines ofthe Games, winhich the author tends to embellish the stories for dramaetfifcect. Somerare and strikingphotographs redeetmhe text. 14 The marathon / John Hopkins. London: Stanley Paul, 1966. 1lip; illus BL: X.449/1830 An account of the Olympic marathons since 1696, with an appendix whichincludes results tohfe various international marathocnhampionships. [ 7 0 ]