Description: This book examines doping in Germany, with primary attention given to West Germany, from 1950 to the present, including what societal, cultural, and institutional pressures arose after WWII to bring about such prevalence of doping in the country.
Review Quotes:
"Those knowledgeable about sporting history know that athletes have sought performance-enhancing substances since antiquity. The literature on recent sports history includes extensive research on doping in East Germany. Now Krüger, Becker, and Nielsen (all sports historians based in Germany) document a research project--sponsored by the German Olympic Sports Federation--examining the history of doping, and anti-doping, in West Germany from 1950 onward. Contending that the doping problem is contextual rather than individualized, the authors consider the role West German politics, sports organizations, and officials played in the history of doping. The book moves from doping during the 1950s and 1960s, to the increased focus on anabolic steroid use and coordinated efforts in anti-doping, to doping and anti-doping in the context of German reunification. The authors base their claims on thorough research of the archives of sources such as German sports federations and academic publications and on written documentation from notable politicians and sports officials. Though this book will appeal to anyone interested in the Olympics or sports history, it will be most valuable to those studying doping and anti-doping movements in sport. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers." --Choice Reviews
"An extensively researched history of doping in German athletics." --USA Today Sports Weekly "German Sports, Doping, and Politics is an exhaustive study that provides a detailed history of doping and anti-doping in Germany. The authors visited a noteworthy amount of archives and utilized an impressive variety of sources, including scientific reports, scholarly papers, and popular accounts, for the publication. Perhaps the greatest strength of the book is how it chronicles both the scientific support of and fight against doping. . . .German Sports, Doping, and Politics is an important addition to the doping canon. Importantly, Krüger, Becker, and Nielsen highlight the paradox of modern sport: the push for absolute excellence without artificial enhancement." --Sport in American History