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The 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, are recalled mostly for the terrible terrorist attack that claimed the lives of eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team. Concerning the actual competition, an underdog story took place that Americans will recall as the inverse of Lake Placid eight years later: The Russian basketball team claiming the gold for the first time over the undefeated U.S.A. team. Much can be said about the peculiar officiating and domestic in-fighting that crippled the Americans’ chances, and the authors leave no stone unturned, citing written accounts of the game, the television broadcast, and conducting interviews with the surviving players, coaches, and anybody else who had first-hand account of the upset that served as the catalyst for the formation of the U.S.A. Dream Team twenty years later.
Sports fans, historians, and anyone who intersects between those two circles will find this book absolutely impossible to put down. Though the storytelling style retreads some of the larger points of the book at times, the story unfolds in a fashion that keeps the reader in suspense despite knowing immediately how the story ends. Direct quotations from the parties involved, including future NBA coaches like Mike D’Antoni and Doug Collins, along with United States Congressman Tom McMillen, bring the events of both the game and the tension of the hostage crisis to life, giving readers a complete picture of the events from those who lived it. For those that love the history of basketball, sports, or just a fascinating look at a dark time in international competition, this riveting book is an absolute must-read for its content and the skillful, engaging way in which it is presented.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review