Product Description Since the dawn of athletic competition during the original Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, athletes, as well as their coaches and trainers, have been finding innovative ways to gain an edge on their competition. Some of those performance-enhancement methods have been within the accepted rules while other methods skirt the gray area between being within the rules and not, while still other methods break the established rules. In modern times, doping - the use of performance-enhancing drugs - has been one method athletes and their trainers have used to beat their competition. The history of sports doping during the modern era can be traced through the events and scandals of the times in which the athletes lived. From the use of amphetamines and other stimulants in the early 20th century, to the use of testosterone and steroids by both the USSR and the United States during Cold War-era Olympics games, to blood doping and EPO, to designer drugs, the history of doping in sports closely follows the medical and technological advances of our times. In the early 21st century, the possibility of genetically engineered athletes looms. The story of doping in sports over the last century offers clues to where the battle over performance enhancement will be fought in the years to come. This book includes a timeline of major milestones/events in the history of doping from the mid-1800s onward. It also shows that a number of popularly circulated stories about doping in sports don't hold up under close examination. For example, in 1886, an English cyclist was said to have died following the Bordeaux to Paris Derny race. However, the Bordeaux to Paris race didn't exist in 1886. It was first run in 1891. Second, the cyclist who supposedly died in 1886 actually died in 1896-from typhoid fever, rather than doping-related causes. To round this landmark study, Dope features an afterword that addresses the final conclusion of the Floyd Landis doping case and brings the content up to the minute on other current doping scandals.
Customer Reviews:
Breathtaking Overview October 9, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dan has created a must-read for anyone interested in the topic of doping in sport. It's easy to get caught up in the doping scandal of the moment, whether it's Marion Jones, or Roger Clemens, or Floyd Landis. Dan provides much-needed perspective, by giving us more than 100 years of doping history. With this perspective, we can see that no decade in the modern era lacks a doping scandal and no sport is immune from doping.
The book should be mandatory reading for every media talking head. Too often, we take the most recent doping story du jour, and attack the alleged doper as single-handedly corrupting our youth and destroying sport as we know it. Dan points out a bigger truth: doping is out there, every athlete has the opportunity to dope, and we fail to understand the problem if we focus on demonizing whatever athlete is currently connected with doping in the headlines.
In order for Dan to give us this kind of 50,000 foot view, he's had to keep each of his doping stories short and to the point. Often, I found this frustrating -- just as Dan got me hooked on one doping story, he'd move on to another. Many of these stories deserve their own books (and quite a few DO have their own books), but I think Dan's book serves a different purpose. It reminds us that these stories are NOT unique, that doping is now woven into the fabric of sport.
a timely and relevant book August 17, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Dope: A History..." is a well-balanced and informative book that brings clarity and perspective to an oft and all too easily misunderstood topic. Given the spate of doping scandals that consistently hit the news these days, it is timely and relevant. Daniel M. Rosen's writing is concise yet easy to follow, offering a wealth of historically grounded facts and interesting anecdotes. This book should be required reading for the professional - athlete, coach or official - as well as the lay person.
A must for any sports fan August 13, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Dope provides a complete and engaging look at the role doping has played in sports over the years. Until very recently, most governing organizations and governments actively encouraged doping amongst its athletes. As pressure mounted, these organizations served platitudes but turned a blind eye to the actions of its athletes and coaches thus tacitly endorsing the practice. Finally in recent years, we are seeing the beginning of a real culture shift. We have come a long way in just a short time.
Mr. Rosen covers all sports from Olympic to US professional sports providing detailed information on the BALCO scandal. There is just enough science to understand the narrative but the author is able to steer clear of sounding like a medical textbook.
Given the backdrop of the current Olympic Games and some of the stories surrounding mysterious changing passports and other suspicious activities this book could not be better timed.
Instead of leaving the reader suspicious of any athletic accomplishment, Mr. Rosen leaves us hopeful that a clean sport is quickly descending on most athletic fields.
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