Description
Book SynopsisThe Olympic movement, including the relevant records and statistics, provides a unique prism to understand the complex evolution of modern Indian society. Drawing on hitherto unused archival sources, this book examines the relations between India's place in the Olympic movement and the country's quest for a national and international identity.
Trade ReviewPraise for the Indian edition:
"This book is a triumph of Olympic proportions for both authors and the publisher and is worthy of a gold medal on its own."
The New Indian Express
"The Games to India have been about more than just sporting glory. Nationalism, factionalism, corruption –India’s Olympic efforts have had it all. Majumdar and Mehta’s narrative is as much about the Olympics’ place in India as it is about India’s place in the Olympics….The content alone earns the book its place on any sports fan’s bookshelf."
Business World
"An eloquent narration laced with rare anecdotes that makes it immensely readable…The wealth of previously unused archival sources is the strength of the book. Laudable for having picked up a subject hitherto untouched, the book proves that you have to study social histories of sport as a whole rather than as a history of cricket, football or Olympics."
The Hindu
"Replete with little known, lively and telling details presented in an enchanting manner…[It] by virtue of its depth, dimension and erudition opens up fresh debates and numerous areas of research—besides being a delightful read."
The Hindustan Times
"The spread is excellent, the information marvellous, the interpretation satisfying….This book will be well-cited and, more importantly, will spring a lot more studies to give us even more insight than we have now."
Biblio: A Review of Books
Table of ContentsPrologue. 1. Games of Self-Respect: A Colony at the Olympics 2. ‘Everyone Wants a Bite of the Cherry’: The Struggle for Control of Olympic Sports in India 3. The Golden Years: ‘We Climb the Victory Stand’ 4. Hitler’s Games: Captain Dhyan Chand and Indian Nationalism in the Third Reich 5. The ‘National’ Game: Hockey in the Life of Independent India 6. ‘The Fall of Rome’: The Fall and Decline of Indian Hockey 7. ‘The Big Brother of Asia’: Nehruvian India, Sport Diplomacy and a New Order 8. Appu on Television: The 1982 Asiad and the Creation of a New Indian Public 9. When Olympic Sports Lost Out: Cricket, Television and Globalization in India 10. The Army, Indian-ness and Sport: The Nation in the Olympic Ideal 11. Torchbearers of a Billion: India at the Games. Epilogue.
