Featuring over 200 photographs from the world-famous archives of Getty Images, Olympic Games Through a Lens is a fascinating visual history of the modern Summer Olympic Games.

Starting with Athens in 1896 and working chronologically through to Beijing 2008 Games, this vivid collection of photographs features images from all Summer Games, with a particular emphasis on the two previous Games held in London in 1908 and 1948.

The focus is on iconic moments and famous athletes: the gold medallists, record breakers and outstanding competitors whose achievements have passed into sporting legend. There’s Jesse Owens, four-times gold medallist and scourge of Adolf Hitler at the Berlin 1936 Games; Olga Korbut, the diminutive and tearful Soviet gymnast who became an overnight sensation at the Munich 1972 Games; and Michael Phelps, the phenomenal swimmer whose haul of 16 Olympic medals makes him the most successful male Olympians of all time.

But Olympic Games Through a Lens is not just a conventional history nor a round-up of already well documented incidents; it also features unsung and forgotten athletes, unusual sports, official posters, spectators, background staff, boycotts, buildings and key innovations.

By turns informative and astonishing, heroic and daring, quirky and amusing, the result is a dynamic and absorbing visual biography of the Summer Olympic Games through the ages.

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Hot Brands Cool Places Verdict
This is a very interesting book, with the build up to the 2012 Olympic Games gathering momentum, this is a very timely publication, reviewing the Summer Olympic Games from Athens 1896 to Beijing 2008. The photographic images are outstanding, capturing many iconic moments, some you will remember, others you may have forgotten, and some you may never have known about, but all fascinating. A wonderful photographic history! Highly Recommended!