This book is a cogent analysis of boycotts of the Olympic Games in the years 1976–1988 in their international context, as well as the consequences of these boycotts for the Olympic movement itself. The book is based on meticulous, original research. Despite the wealth of historical detail that Michał Słoniewski presents, his book is engaging and lively. He focuses on the boycotts of the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984, placing them in a broader context and discussing the problem of boycotts in the history of modern international sporting events.
Słoniewski's starting observation is that the modern Olympic movement, despite its proclaimed insulation from politics, has reflected all the major political problems of the world. This is a consequence of the growing internationalization of the movement and the problems that affected the participating countries regionally and globally. Not surprisingly, the Olympic movement during the Cold...