Based on original Stasi and Communist Party archival sources, this book uncovers why East Germany was for two decades running one of the most successful nations in the Summer and Winter Olympics, exploring how the central elite sports system was beset by internal tensions and disputes.

"Dennis and Grix have provided us with the most authoritative English-language account of sport in the GDR to date, and it is to be hoped that it will appear in a paperback version so that it can reach as wide a readership as possible." - International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics

"Dennis and Grix have produced a first concise and compelling English-language summary on the vast research done on GDR sport. The book will surely prove valuable for teaching the subject" - German Historical Institute

Autorentext
MIKE DENNIS Professor of Modern German History at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He has specialized in the history of East German Communism and sport and among his major publications are The Rise and Fall of the German Democratic Republic 1945-1990 , The Stasi: Myth and Reality, Deutschland 1945-1990 (with J. D. Steinert), and S tate and Minorities in Communist East Germany (with N. Laporte).
JONATHAN GRIXSenior Lecturer in Sports Politics and Policy at the University of Birmingham, UK. Hehas published widely on East Germany, research methodology and sports-related themes, including The Role of the Masses in the Collapse of the GDR and Foundations of Research.

Inhalt
List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Introduction: Contestation in the East German Sport System The Political Use of Sport The Development of East German Elite Sport Finding and Promoting Young Sporting Talent Drugs in Elite Sport in the German 'Doping' Republic Steroids and Justice Football East German Sport's 'Problem Child' The 'Flipside' of the Sports 'Miracle': Declining Mass Sport Provision The East German Model in Comparative Context Key Themes and Findings Bibliography Index