An Athletics Compendium

410-417 International Among many anecdotes tahroese of the Irish hammer thrower who threw a notable distance, but whose hammer wasfound to belight, 'Faith, I think it must have struck satone andknocked off a piece', and the Virginian long jumper who suddenly improved from 19ft 6in to beat the world record. 410 The athletic revolution/ Jack Scott. London: Collier- Macmillan, 1971. x, 242p; illus BL; X.619/6660 In the preface, Scott sets out his two main purposes in writing this book as 'toshed some light on the reasons for tthuermoil inAmerican athletics while at the same time trying to offer an analysis that might assist those individuaalsnd groups who asretruggling to bring about constructive change in the athletic world'. 411 200 years ofsport in America: a pageant onf aation at play / Wells Twombly; editoJresr,emy Friedlander, John Wiebusch. London: McGraw-Hill, 1976. 287p; illus ISBN: 0-07-065640-1 BL:X.622/6392 Published to coincide with the US bicentenary, this handsome worhkas a wide variety of graphmicaterial. It is divided into four parts: ThPeastoral Age 1776- 1565; The Passionate Age l&SS-ISIS; The Golden Age 1920-1945; The Electronic Age 1946-1976. 412 Sports andfreedom: the rise obfig-time college athletics / Ronald A. Smith. Oxford: OxfUonrdiversity Press, 1988. xiv, 290p; illus; index ISBN: 0-19-505314-1 BL:YK.1990.a.407 Though the work dealwsith the developmenotf sport in US institutions of higher learning during the nineteenth century, theorigins areclearly traced to English practice. In pursuing his theme, the author examines four major sptsorin the first half-centoufry intercollegiate athletics (rowing, baseball, football, track and field) and specific topics which influenced all the college sports. * USSR 413 Soviet sport: mirror of Soviet society / Henry W. Morton. London: Collier-Macmillan, 1963. 22Ip; pbk BL: X.449/57 The author sets tout describethe shiftsin CPSU sports policy between 1925 and 1961, the introduction of the GTO awards system, the incentives offeredto top performers, the role of sport in USSR foreign policy, the main figures Sionviet sports sociology, the practice of sport in the post-1945 era, and the transition from the Tsarist era of sports administration thtoe setting up of the USSR Union of Sport Societies and organisations in1959. 414 Sport in Soviet society: development of sport and physical education in Russia antdhe USSR / James Riordan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. ix, 435p; illus; index ISBN: 0-521-21284-7 BL: X.629/11316 This remains one of the main works in English on the evolution of sport in Russia and the USSR. The development or athletics is traced from 1&36, with the first All-Pussia Championships taking place in ISOS and a national association formed in 1911, in preparation for the 1912Olympic Games. The first national championships, followtinhge 1917 Revolution, were held in1920 (men) and women followed in1922. By 1January 1939, nine unofficialworld athletics records had been set by Soviet athletes. The author describes in detail the organisationof Soviet sport afterthe Second World Ware, mphasising the importance of the (5T0 Award Scheme in the attainment of higher standards. Other topics covered are: women's participation relative tomen; the roleof Spartakiads indomestic competition; the provision of facilities; the coaching structure; professional training; sporting publications; obstacletos mass participatioan;d the close linksbetween sport and the military. * Additional References 415 Games of the North AmericaInndians / Robert Stewart Culin. Washington: GPO, 1907. 846p; illus Re-issuedin facsimile:London:Constable,1975. ISBN: 0-486-23125-9 BL: A.S.9n Published as an appendix thteo twenty-fourth annual report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Smithsonian Institution, 1902-1903 by W.H. Holmes. Gives details of footraces among Algonc^uian, Athapascan, Caddoan, Eskimauan, Iroquoian, Muskhogean, Piman, Salishan, Shoshonean, Siouan and Yumannative Americans from 1531 onwards. 416 Aspects of the sociahlistory of sport in France, 1870- 1914 / R. J. Holt. University of Oxford, 1977. DPhil thesis. 417 Soviet sport: background to the Olympi/cJsames Riordan. Oxford: Blackwell, 1980. xi, 172p; illus, 1 map; index ISBN: 0-631-12201 -X (cased) • 0-631-12211-7 (pbk) BL: X .629/14449 Published to coincidewith the stagingof the 1950 Games inMoscow, Riordan surveys the geographical and historical factoarfsfecting sportdsevelopment in the USSR, before outlining the structure and organisation of Soviet sport, the development of talent, antdhe professional trainingof coaches and PE teachers. Specific attention is paid to the important place of women in USSR sport, both as participants and coachTehse.primary events of Faina Melnik (discus) and Nadezhda Chizhova (shot) have [ 38 ]