Review by Choice Review
Rosen (journalist/cyclist) presents material by decade; however, this arrangement makes for frequent repetition of names and events, and a mixed bag of Olympic and professional sporting events in each chapter. Rosen begins with a brief overview covering 1860-1960. The following chapters are titled "Beginnings of Modern Doping"; "The Rise of East German Athletics and Other Tales of Doping"; "Blood Doping, EPO, and Human Growth Hormone"; "An Explosion of Doping and the Rise of Custom-Tailored Drugs"; and "Is Everyone Doping?" The final chapter addresses the future potential of gene doping. Rosen includes a time line of incidents, athletes, and locations, and posts updates on his blog, Rant Your Head Off, instead of offering an afterword. He corrects inaccurate stories about doping deaths in cycling and offers very current detailed developments in the Floyd Landis case. He explains difficult and changing drug detection methods and results. This volume cites various online news sources, but few books in the text and chapter notes; a separate bibliography would be most useful. For a more comprehensive discussion by drug type, readers should consult Performance-Enhancing Substances in Sport and Exercise, edited by M. S. Bahrke and C. E. Yesalis (2002). Summing Up: Recommended. Larger university coaching and sports medicine collections supporting lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers. E. R. Paterson SUNY College at Cortland
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
