Drug Games: The International Olympic Committee and the Politics of Doping, 1960–2008 (Terry and Jan Todd Series on Physical Culture and Sports)

Having had the opportunity to view earlier drafts of this book during the writing process, I am excited to see such an important work finally make it to print. While Hunt crafts a compelling narrative that will transport you behind the curtain during this critical time in political history, the enduring contribution of Drug Games is its unflinching willingness to demonstrate the historical significance that sport has played as a diplomatic tool. Few scholars have so clearly articulated the power that sport wields as a political weapon, and the Cold War period provides one of the most salient examples of how the worlds of sport and politics are often far more intertwined than we realize. This is a wonderful book for anyone with an interest in political history, sport, or the places where the two come together. Drug Games elevates Hunt to the upper echelon of sport historians: those who seek to look beyond sport as simply social history in an effort to understand how it both shapes, and is shaped by, broader geopolitical issues.