Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream

The 1936 Berlin Olympics brought together athletes, politicians, socialites, journalists, soldiers, and artists from all over the world. But behind the scenes, the games were a dress rehearsal for the machinations of the forthcoming conflict. Hitler had determined to trumpet German superiority, and the unwitting athletes became pawns in his propaganda game. Berlin Games explores the roles of a wide cast of characters, including sexually incontinent Nazis, corrupt Olympic officials, transvestite athletes, and the mythic figure of Jesse Owens. By illuminating the darkest aspects of the world's greatest sporting spectacle, Guy Walters throws new light on the whole of Europe's troubled pre-war period.