The Dark History of the Olympics

THE GAMES

A Global History of the Olympics

By David Goldblatt

Illustrated. 516 pp. W.W. Norton & Company. $29.95.

In the late 19th century, Pierre de Coubertin, a French aristocrat and dropout from the priesthood, found his life’s goal: to create a sporting culture that existed separate from political concerns. And in 1896, with the staging of the first modern Olympic Games, Coubertin got his wish. Sort of.