Rome 1960

The Olympics that Changed the World

By: David Maraniss

Narrated by: David Maraniss

From the New York Times bestselling author of Clemente and When Pride Still Mattered, the blockbuster story of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, seventeen days that helped define the modern world.


Legendary athletes and stirring events are interwoven into a suspenseful narrative of sports and politics at the Rome games, where cold-war propaganda and spies, drugs and sex, money and television, civil rights and the rise of women superstars all converged to forever change the essence of the Olympics.

Using the meticulous research and sweeping narrative style that have become his trademark, maraniss reveals the rich palette of character, competition, and meaning that gave rome 1960 its singular essence.©2008 David Maraniss; (P)2008 Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Evocative, entertaining and often suspenseful - sports history at a very high standard." - Kirkus (starred review)

Super good book & story telling

My father played in the 1960 Olympics for the Mexican basketball team. I grew up hearing stories he told. I had no idea of all the “firsts” this particular Olympics is historically now known for. Fascinating story, well written and read (I listened to audio book), and I felt I was there. What a tremendous part of history! And now that my father has been gone for 30 years, I wonder how aware he was of all the politics, both among nations and among teams, he was aware. Each time I heard of team members going to this or that restaurant while in Italy, I wonder if that’s the restaurant my father told me about where he and his teammates Ahmad he’d crystal wine goblets against the rock fireplace, just because they were “cool Olympic team members” and they could.

I recommend this book for anyone above 21 who is interested in sports, politics and Olympics. I supposed anyone younger who has the capacity to understand and appreciate the politics & history of what was going on in the world at that time (Bay of Pigs, Berlin Wall, Cold War, etc) would appreciate reading this book as well, but I don’t think there will be many. Haha.

Excellent

No idea how many important events and impactful people were involved. Well worth the listen

Very Good Book

I found this book to be very enlightening. The author did a great job of telling the stories of the 1960 Rome Games in light of how they changed the way the Olympic games would be viewed after that. This is a great read, especially since the Summer Games are just around the corner.

A wonderful story well told

David Manarsis is a talented story teller. I was seventeen in 1960 and I remember many of the athletes who are the focus of this Book. I enjoyed learning about their backgrounds. It is sad to see we are still dealing with the same race issues.

1960 a watershed year

This was a great bit of scholarship and research to do a deep dive into the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. There are some great stories in here, but there’s also a point of reflection in the point of history where the cold war was coming in the prominence, and affecting international sport. The author does a very nice job of narrating his book as well.