The Austerity Olympics: When the Games Came to London in 1948

by Janie Hampton

London 2012 Olympics is fast approaching, with new developments and plans causing huge excitement the world over. Yet, this multi-million pound corporate extravaganza could not be further from the realities of the 1948 'Ration Book Olympics' which took place with London a bombed out ruin and Britain in deep economic crisis. The resulting games were not only an amazing achievement in terms of organisation, thrift and invention - being the most successful, inexpensive and unpretentious games of the 20th century - but also something for the world to celebrate following the long years of war and strain. After the cynical 1936 Berlin Games, 1948 was a triumph of the Olympic spirit and fair play, when the countries' finest athletes joined together to compete and entertain despite the burgeoning cold war and niggling old disputes.
In the vein of Simon Garfield's Our Hidden Lives, The People's Olympics is a fascinating look at an extraordinary event which was for and by the people. Entertaining, revelatory and hugely readable, the book is full of first hand interviews, hilarious anecdotes, and great spirited feats. Here we meet not only the famous names (Fanny Blankers-Koen and Emil Zapotek) but also hear the experiences of all who were involved from tea ladies, through postmen, to locals and spectators. It is a vivid snapshot of a games which will offer food for thought in the run up to London 2012.

Genres: History, Sports, Nonfiction, London, British Literature, Research

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Ann Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this delightful book! The 1948 Olympics were a seat-of-your-pants kind of production. People's mothers made their track shorts, the foreign soccer teams had to bring their own balls, once the swimming events were done, the boxing ring was put up over the middle of the pool (you could still see the water), etc., etc.

What I especially loved were the stories about how athletes prepared for the Games at the time. Practicing or training too much was seen as unsportsmanlike. Eighteen year old Joe Birrell qualified to run the 110m hurdles. His coach was his physics teacher who was a rugby player but who had never hurdled. The British coxless pair had rowed together before the war but then spent 10 years in the Sudan (not rowing) and where one had been injured by a spear. They came back, got in a boat, proceeded to steer it straight into the river bank, and were selected to the team. Eventually they got it together and then were declared to be "dead cert for a medal!". And maybe my personal favourite were the words of the British swimming coach who told his swimmers (among other things) that "excessive and continuous swimming dulls the driving force of enthusiasm. You want to maintain the URGE to get into the water and swim and swim."

The book is filled with fun facts (which I love, as you know). If you enjoy books about the Olympics (The Boys in the Boat or Triumph (about Jesse Owens)), I can recommend this book.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book in 2008, and it’s made it through several house moves and “will I ever really read it? Really?!” purges to this moment, fourteen years later…. where I have read it.

And I’m glad I did. This is an account of the 1948 Olympics, which took place when Britain was still half-destroyed, half-bankrupt, and under heavy rationing after World War II. These Olympics are pitched - by this author at least - as a triumph of spirit and resourcefulness over the cynical nationalism of the Nazis’ 1936 Berlin Olympics, 12 years previously.

I found the accounts of how the Games came together and the competitors’ experiences more compelling than the accounts of say, the fencing, sailing, or equestrian competitions, but these were thankfully quite brief.

The book is peppered with the kind of fun anecdotes my poor husband is then forced to listen to, such as the fact that competitors were sent off for the day’s competition with a packed lunch of a single cheese sandwich, an apple, and a boiled egg. If countries wanted more food, their Olympic committees had to arrange it. The French shipped a train of wine over a month in advance so it would have to time to ‘settle.’

The spirit of these Olympics is best summed up by Olympic legend Emil Zátopek, quoted saying of the Opening Ceremony:

“After all those dark days of the war, the bombing, the killing and the starvation, it was as if the sun had come out. It was wonderfully warm to feel.”

[Paul Dickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the book I need right now. Adding it to my "try again later" shelf.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't so much about the sport at the 1948 Olympics as how the Olympics were actually organised and hosted by a country exhausted and bankrupted by five years of war. The Olympics really were run on a shoestring budget - competitors were bussed to venues, rationing was still in effect, there were no floodlights so competitions that overran took place practically in the dark. And yet it is reckoned as one of the most successful Olympics competitions ever for precisely that reason, the make-do-and-mend optimism lent a special atmosphere to the proceedings. It's interesting reading this book and comparing it to the run-up to 2012 - the global depression, the media skepticism, the bureaucratic bungling. It's a timely reminder now when every Olympics has to be bigger and better than the previous - it's just a shame the plans for 2012 aren't so simple and homespun, the Olympics might be a lot better for it.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hampton seems to have evoked a good sense of the post-war era – the hardship, the world of rationing and so forth, and in doing so has drawn on an image of the continuation of the blitz spirit, of mucking in and achieving the olympic goal. In doing so she has, I suspect in a quite unintentional manner, given us a blistering critique of the contemporary corporate olympic games. There is good use of oral history – but as an academic I'd like better referencing and an idea of sources. The presence of 1948's athletic voices is the real strength of this.

[Marc Maitland]

A wonderful evocation of the true Olympic ideal: sportsmanship at its best, when taking part rather than winning was the important thing, and the triumph of post-war austerity Britian putting on one of the most successful and enjoyable, controversy-free Olympic Games of the modern era, and for a minute fraction of the cost of the 2012 Games. This is a lovely book, dealing not only with the sportsmen and their stories, but how the Games came about, how they were organised and full of reminiscences of those that enjoyed the Games in 1948.

[Steve Chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst the whole story about the '48 Olympics was fascinating in it's comparison to the 2012 version, the book tended to be a bit 'listy'. Obviously it was the result of some pretty serious research, but somehow had no real soul. I was also a bit intolerant of some of the descriptions of sports I am less interested in. On a balance a good read, which in a strange way pointed up the fact that some of the main players from this era have never had THEIR full story told - Fanny Blankers-Koen for example.

[Janet Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this hugely well researched book, especially considering the Olympics were taking place at the time! The contrast with 1948 was amazing - when London was a bomb site, food was rationed and there was absolutely no spare money. But it was a huge success, mainly because everyone pulled together. Athletes were asked to bring enough food to share (the US provided a large number of tinned peaches!), they bought their own towels and their Mum's made their shorts! Quite marvellous!

[Nick Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at how post-war London put on the Olympic Games with hardly any money to spend. Some great anecdotal quotes from athletes who took part and people who helped organise the Games. Well worth reading to see how different life was for competitors compared to the pampered experience the likes of Usain Bolt, Jessica Ennis and Michael Phelps enjoyed at London 2012.

[the Kent cryptid · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Austerity Olympics is good on the challenges of putting on an Olympics in a city still partially bombed-out and subject to rationing. However, it's written in a rather choppy style, and the chapters on the individual sporting events got repetitive after a while.

[Beth Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of great details about the 1948 Olympics in a city (London), and a world, still recovering from the devastation of World War II. The organizational details at the beginning got to be a bit tedious, but the pace picked up once the Games started. There's coverage of each sport contested.

[Randi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was interesting, and you have to appreciate the story behind the 1948 Olympics, but as a whole the book was choppy and too full of extraneous information. It's like the author was trying to include everything researched, whether it added to the history or not.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

clearly written, entertaining, interesting
times certainly have changed!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look at how an olympics came together against all the odds and how countries pooled resources to help make it happen.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about London putting on the Olympics only three years after the end of the war

[Ben Aaronovitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with concision and an eye to detail - which are excellent qualities in a history book.