“A people’s history of the Olympics.”—New York Times Book Review A Boston Globe Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year The Games is best-selling sportswriter David Goldblatt’s sweeping, definitive history of the modern Olympics. Goldblatt brilliantly traces their history from the reinvention of the Games in Athens in 1896 to Rio in 2016, revealing how the Olympics developed into a global colossus and highlighting how they have been buffeted by (and affected by) domestic and international conflicts. Along the way, Goldblatt reveals the origins of beloved Olympic traditions (winners’ medals, the torch relay, the eternal flame) and popular events (gymnastics, alpine skiing, the marathon). And he delivers memorable portraits of Olympic icons from Jesse Owens to Nadia Comaneci, the Dream Team to Usain Bolt.

This one volume anthology explores the last two hundred years of Science Fiction and Fantasy--featuring women and men authors of various ethnic backgrounds, and a range of both traditional canonical literature and popular culture. Designed to heighten interest in a fun and exciting topic, this book will lead readers to meaningful intellectual, social, and historic investigations. Contributing authors include Mary W. Shelly, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Bram Stoker, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jules Verne, Jack London, Ray Bradbury, and Kurt Vonnegut. For fans of science fiction, fantasy, and the stories presented here, who appreciate that they represent the best of humanity, and include potential warnings for where humanity is headed.

Once confined solely to literature and film, science fiction has emerged to become a firmly established, and wildly popular, television genre over the last half century. The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader provides insight into and analyses of the most important programs in the history of the genre and explores the breadth of science fiction programming. Editor J. P. Telotte and the contributors explain the gradual transformation of the genre from low-budget cinematic knockoffs to an independent and distinct televisual identity. Their essays track the dramatic evolution of early hits such as The Twilight Zone and Star Trek into the science fiction programming of today with its more recent successes such as Lost and Heroes. They highlight the history, narrative approaches, and themes of the genre with an inviting and accessible style. In essays that are as varied as the shows themselves, the contributors address the full scope of the genre. In his essay "The Politics of Star Trek: The Original Series," M. Keith Booker examines the ways in which Star Trek promoted cultural diversity and commented on the pioneering attitude of the American West. Susan George takes on the refurbished Battlestar Galactica series, examining how the show reframes questions of gender. Other essays explore the very attributes that constitute science fiction television: David Lavery's essay "The Island's Greatest Mystery: Is Lost Science Fiction?"calls into question the defining characteristics of the genre. From anime to action, every form of science fiction television is given thoughtful analysis enriched with historical perspective. Placing the genre in a broad context, The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader outlines where the genre has been, where it is today, and where it may travel in the future. No longer relegated to the periphery of television, science fiction now commands a viewership vast enough to sustain a cable channel devoted to the genre.

CLICK HERE to download author Craig Romano's favorite hike from the book, Bogachiel Peak * More than 100 day hikes, with options for linking them to longer routes * Compact, easy-carry size * Two color maps, charts and elevation profiles This handsome guide is full of charts and easy-to-find information that will help you quickly select your ideal hike. And once you're on the trail, you'll enjoy the sidebars on flora and fauna, and historical highlights that accompany many of the routes. There is a full-color front map and then two-color section maps, along with clear driving directions to the trail head, options for nearby camping, ratings for trail difficulty and photos of what you'll see on your hike. Hikes are typically less than 12 miles round trip. The Day Hiking series guidebooks are the most comprehensive and attractive trail guides available for Washington state.

Whether rocketing to other worlds or galloping through time, science fiction television has often featured the best of the medium. The genre's broad appeal allows youngsters to enjoy fantastic premises and far out stories, while offering adults a sublime way to view the human experience in a dramatic perspective. From Alien Nation to World of Giants, this reference work provides comprehensive episode guides and cast and production credits for 62 science fiction series that were aired from 1959 through 1989. For each episode, a brief synopsis is given, along with the writer and director of the show and the guest cast. Using extensive research and interviews with writers, directors, actors, stuntmen and many of the show's creators, an essay about each of the shows is also provided, covering such issues as its genesis and its network and syndication histories.

Arguably the greatest science fiction writer who ever lived, Isaac Asimov also possessed one of the most brilliant and original minds of our time. His accessible style and far-reaching interests in subjects ranging from science to humor to history earned him the nickname “the Great Explainer.” I. Asimov is his personal story—vivid, open, and honest—as only Asimov himself could tell it. Here is the story of the paradoxical genius who wrote of travel to the stars yet refused to fly in airplanes; who imagined alien universes and vast galactic civilizations while staying home to write; who compulsively authored more than 470 books yet still found the time to share his ideas with some of the great minds of our century. Here are his wide-ranging thoughts and sharp-eyed observations on everything from religion to politics, love and divorce, friendship and Hollywood, fame and mortality. Here, too, is a riveting behind-the-scenes look at the varied personalities—Campbell, Ellison, Heinlein, Clarke, del Rey, Silverberg, and others—who along with Asimov helped shape science fiction. As unique and irrepressible as the man himself, I. Asimov is the candid memoir of an incomparable talent who entertained readers for nearly half a century and whose work will surely endure into the future he so vividly envisioned.

A sweeping analysis of sport culture's global, national, and local impact.