Olympic cities : 2012 and the remaking of London /

London hopes that hosting the 2012 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will prove regenerating for the Olympic sites: East London, the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford. Those expecting a discussion of the proposed buildings in comparison with those of past Olympics will be disappointed, because this is outside the book's purview. Rather, this book considers the historical, cultural, economic, and social demographic effects of major sporting events on urban regeneration and renewal. Poynter and MacRury (both, social science, Univ. of London, UK), plus 17 other specialists in the social sciences, sports, and tourism, provide a fascinating study (embellished by numerous charts and tables but no illustrations or photographs) of the Olympics as an engine of social and economic change. Of particular interest is coverage of other cities that have hosted the games--Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996, summer), Athens (2004, summer), Beijing (2008, summer)--and their successes and failures in achieving change. The core of the book is London and its preparations--"the regeneration game," the role of race, making the Olympics green, and so on. As a speculative study of sports and economics, this is a provocative work. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. T. J. McCormick emeritus, Wheaton College (MA)