I am a big fan of the Olympics so this was a fun read for me. I greatly enjoyed being in depth with the stories and insights.

For anyone looking to feed their fascination of the Olympics, this book is for you. Full of historical facts of the Games (including the ancient games), this book includes chapters on Forgotten History, Legends, Wild and Strange, Firsts, Discontinued Sports, Forgotten Heroes, and an extensive list of Olympic results and stats.

I am a huge Olympic fan and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although parts of the book are too focused on the accomplishments of U.S. athletes for my non-American liking , I enjoyed learning about, or recalling, various Olympic achievements. The impact of war, politics and religion on the Games is also noted. I appreciated having the photos of the athletes alongside their stories, demonstrating the changing uniforms along the way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Workman Publishing Company for the ARC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here.

totally entertaining! Full of very interesting and curious facts about the Olympics and the athletes who have participated in them.

Fans of sports trivia will think Christmas has come early if they light their eyes on this book, but then… Don't get me wrong, it's solid – well-researched, nicely illustrated, and definitely comprehensive. But it lacks an editor. It lacks an editor with the gumption to think that two different angles on the Hungarians competing in Australia just as the Soviets were flattening thousands of their compatriots in their democratic rallies within the first five articles were one too many. It lacks an editor with the strength to tell the author not to politicise his chapters about Black Power salutes et al – the Games are supposed to be apolitical, so don't get on a hobby horse while telling us about when they unfortunately weren't, or diss Leni Riefenstahl's entire work because she is, in your phrasing, "infamous". It also lacks a guiding hand for the whole production to steer it away from pro-USA jingoism – nearly all the 'Legends' in that chapter (and far too many in the section of 'Firsts') come from that country, which likewise isn't in the spirit of things and kind of reduces the chance of the target audience learning anything new. Still, the book can still manage to at least get a medal at times, if not gold – the factoid of what the 1928 Amsterdam Games gave us all is among some world-class bits of trivia. Four stars, I guess, if you're from the States, three and a half from the RotW judges.

Total Olympics is a look back at the history of the Olympics through a series of brief stories categorized into the chapters of "Forgotten History", "Legends", "Wild and Strange", "Firsts", "Discontinued Sports", and "Forgotten Heroes." Each story is around 2-3 pages and range from wildly entertaining to deeply moving. I was surprised by how quickly I read this book, but the various stories captivated me. I especially enjoyed the stories of the early Olympics and the role of the Olympics in protesting human rights violations.

The only concern I had with this book was the use of ableist language, particularly in regards to paralympians consistently being described as "overcoming" their disabilities. Advocates within the disabled community can speak better to this concern than I can, but the language of "overcoming" tends to ignore the lived reality of disabled athletes. I hope that before this book goes to press the sections on paralympians can be more closely edited to properly reflect the accomplishments of these athletes.

Fun facts about the Olympics.
Random obscure facts every Olympic fan would love.
Interesting but not long winded.
Thankyou Netgalley for this ARC