The Olympics: A Critical Reader provides a unique, critical reference source and systematically sets out the key themes in modern Olympism, offering a structured approach to the subject for students and lecturers. 

Vassil Girginov is Reader in Sports Development and Sports Management at Brunel University. He is also a founding member of the Bulgarian National Olympic Academy and has researched and published in the field of Olympism, sport policy analysis, Eastern European sport and the culture of sport management. His previous books include The Olympic Games Explained (2005) and Management of Sports Development (2008). Vassil is also Executive Academic Editor of the Routledge journals 2012 Olympics Special Issue programme, which includes some 40 academic journals from a range of fields and disciplines.

Introduction Part 1: Studying Olympism 1. Studying Olympism Part 2: Documenting Olympism 2. Post-Olympism: Questioning Olympic historiography 3. From Olympia 776 BC to Athens 2004: The Origins and Authenticity of the Modern Olympic Games 4. Olympic Games and Historical Imagination Part 3: Theorising Olympism 5. A Never-Ending Story: The Philosophical Controversy Over Olympism 6. Olympic Games and the Theory of Spectacle in Modern Societies 7. The Olympics and 'Global Citizenship' Part 4: Negotiating Olympic Identities 8. Hellenism and Olympism: Pierre de Coubertin and the Greek Challenges to the Early Olympic Movement 9. Staging the Nation: Gendered and Ethnicized Discourses of National Identity in Olympic Opening Ceremonies Part 5: Imagining Olympism 10. Meet the "Framers": the Olympic Producers 11. Olympic Museum 12. Paralympic "Lived History": Reflections of a Participant-Observer Part 6: Owning Olympism 13. A Brief Overview of the Olympic System 14. Who Owns the Olympics? Political Economy and Critical Moments in the Modern Games 15. On Seizing the Olympic Platform Part 7: Staging the Olympics 16. Financing of the Games: Interests, Winners and Losers 17. Olympic Cities: Regeneration, City Rebranding and Changing Urban Agendas Part 8: Promoting Olympism 18. 'Celebrate Humanity' or 'Consumerism': A Critical Evaluation of a Brand in Motion 19. Symbolism and the Effectiveness of Olympic Mascots Part 9: Safeguarding Olympism 20. Why Olympic Athletes Should Avoid the Use and Seek the Elimination of Performance-Enhancing Substances and Practices From the Olympic Games 21. Mega Events, Fear and Risk: Terrorism at the Olympic Games 22. Faster, Higher, Stronger: The Protection of Olympic Marks Leading up to Vancouver 2010 Part 10: Contesting Olympism 23. Does One-World Olympic Ideology Lead to Multiculturalism? 24. Olympic Impacts on Bid and Host Cities Part 11: Teaching Olympism 25. "Olympism" Revisited as Context for Global Education: Implications for Physical Education 26. Didactic Approaches to Teaching Olympic Education Part 12: Sustaining Olympism 27. The Making of the IOC environmental Policy as the Third Dimension of the Olympic Movement 28. A Sustainable Sports Legacy: Creating a Link Between the London Olympics and Sports Participation