A glorious keepsake of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, full of unforgettable images, powerful quotes and fascinating statistics. It traces the whole incredible story, from early preparation through the creation of the Olympic Park, the Torch Relay and the innovative Cultural Olympiad. It explores both Games in detail, revealing how record-breaking athletes, spectators, volunteers and locals have all made London 2012 their own. Beautifully designed and featuring the Games' most evocative photography and a foreword by Sebastian Coe KBE, London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: The Commemorative Book captures the magical atmosphere of a once in a lifetime event.
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′One of the presents people will be looking for this Christmas′ (Sky Sports News Radio, June 2012)
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'One of the presents people will be looking for this Christmas' (Sky Sports News Radio, June 2012)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
69 of 69 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
At this rate it won't be long before I have more London 2012 books than Michael Phelps has gold medals. Normal, non-obsessive archivists might be happy with just this one, however. My previous comments on The Games by The Times heralded that shiny-covered enjoyable read as a potential champion of London 2012 books released this year. Turns out it may have to play Yohan Blake to The Official Commemorative Book's Usain Bolt after all. I said back then, we were in for a treat if anything managed to beat it. Here's how I think the two weigh up against one another.
Writing
The Times' effort is more evocative of the mood that swept through London 2012 at the time, being as it is compiled from reports from the newspaper during the Olympics. Unlike The Times' day by day narrative, TOCB opts to go with an A-Z guide. It loses a little something for that when telling the story of London 2012. Where it gains an advantage, depending on what you're after, is by being more open to the achievements of competitors from other nations. The vast majority of events and winners are given time. You don't need to be part of Team GB, but it helps. Poster boy Tom Daley gets the photo for his bronze in the diving, but at least David Boudia gets headline status for beating him to the gold. Some notable moments are missing like the 1500m in the athletics. For some reason everyone wants to write Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi leaving his rivals for dust out of the history books. Well, not quite because there's a complete medal listings index in the back.
TOCB also benefits from a foreword from the main man himself, Seb Coe, and (not the last time this will be a factor) the inclusion of the Paralympics that other publications have chosen to neglect is a major boon. The Paralympics are also joined by an overview of the build-up and the London 2012 Festival.
Photography
The Times' photography and wraparound covers became a star of London 2012. It's therefore to my surprise that TOCB has managed to equal it in its pages. The shots here show London 2012 at its best and the larger size of the book is used to great effect. Whereas I think The Times is a better read (albeit confined to the Olympics) and blessed with fine imagery, once again TOCB's inclusion of the Paralympics (which was much sunnier!) gives it an edge. The only thing that's missing is a comprehensive section on the victory parade (there is one double-page photo of Team GB outside Buckingham Palace).
Presentation
There's nothing to fault here apart from the official London 2012 font looking as cheap and tacky as it ever did - much like the logo. It remains a legitimate part of London 2012, though. Ironically, The Times is better off for not having to cheapen its appearance with it. Other than that, TOCB is a high quality coffee table book. Large, well designed and with lovely, smooth paper. Exactly what you'd want.
Verdict
Taking London 2012 beyond the Olympics to give the Paralympics the space they deserve is TOCB's trump card. Chapters on the seven years of preparation and the London 2012 festival flesh out the most comprehensive guide yet. If you haven't already guessed from the above, having previously stated that The Games by The Times had the potential to take gold, I'm almost embarrassed to now say that for most this will be the people's champion. And it will be a worthy one. Credit to all involved for doing a terrific job with the official licence and covering every aspect of an unforgettable summer. So I'll end this review in a familiar fashion for me. If something else comes along to take gold now... well, we'll need to start conducting doping tests on these publishers.
Writing
The Times' effort is more evocative of the mood that swept through London 2012 at the time, being as it is compiled from reports from the newspaper during the Olympics. Unlike The Times' day by day narrative, TOCB opts to go with an A-Z guide. It loses a little something for that when telling the story of London 2012. Where it gains an advantage, depending on what you're after, is by being more open to the achievements of competitors from other nations. The vast majority of events and winners are given time. You don't need to be part of Team GB, but it helps. Poster boy Tom Daley gets the photo for his bronze in the diving, but at least David Boudia gets headline status for beating him to the gold. Some notable moments are missing like the 1500m in the athletics. For some reason everyone wants to write Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi leaving his rivals for dust out of the history books. Well, not quite because there's a complete medal listings index in the back.
TOCB also benefits from a foreword from the main man himself, Seb Coe, and (not the last time this will be a factor) the inclusion of the Paralympics that other publications have chosen to neglect is a major boon. The Paralympics are also joined by an overview of the build-up and the London 2012 Festival.
Photography
The Times' photography and wraparound covers became a star of London 2012. It's therefore to my surprise that TOCB has managed to equal it in its pages. The shots here show London 2012 at its best and the larger size of the book is used to great effect. Whereas I think The Times is a better read (albeit confined to the Olympics) and blessed with fine imagery, once again TOCB's inclusion of the Paralympics (which was much sunnier!) gives it an edge. The only thing that's missing is a comprehensive section on the victory parade (there is one double-page photo of Team GB outside Buckingham Palace).
Presentation
There's nothing to fault here apart from the official London 2012 font looking as cheap and tacky as it ever did - much like the logo. It remains a legitimate part of London 2012, though. Ironically, The Times is better off for not having to cheapen its appearance with it. Other than that, TOCB is a high quality coffee table book. Large, well designed and with lovely, smooth paper. Exactly what you'd want.
Verdict
Taking London 2012 beyond the Olympics to give the Paralympics the space they deserve is TOCB's trump card. Chapters on the seven years of preparation and the London 2012 festival flesh out the most comprehensive guide yet. If you haven't already guessed from the above, having previously stated that The Games by The Times had the potential to take gold, I'm almost embarrassed to now say that for most this will be the people's champion. And it will be a worthy one. Credit to all involved for doing a terrific job with the official licence and covering every aspect of an unforgettable summer. So I'll end this review in a familiar fashion for me. If something else comes along to take gold now... well, we'll need to start conducting doping tests on these publishers.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Sarah Lambert
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a great book this is! So many moments captured in the photos and lots of information about the different events. It brought back all the memories of a wonderful summer and will be a great memento of the Olympics and Paralympics. Made me feel quite emotional just reading the book! Highly recommended.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By whitemagic81
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
this is a great book that captures the best bits of the 2012 olympics and paralymics as well as the history of the games
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
london 2012 olympic and paralympic games the official commemorative by...
excellent book bought it for family friend and he said it was a good read and would recomend it to all his friends
Published 1 day ago by noddy r
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant souvenir
Wonderful photos and just enough description and commentary. Brilliant souvenir but I was disappointed that no sooner than I had bought it as a Christmas present the price was... Read more
Published 1 day ago by Mary Pearce
5.0 out of 5 stars
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: The Official Commemorative.
Fantastic pictures and the way the book is laid out is superb. Bought 3 copies for the family in the Uk and USA - such a momento of London 2012..
Published 2 days ago by Mr Andrew Philp
5.0 out of 5 stars
A year to be proud of
What a year 2012 was - the Olympics, gave us all something to be proud of.
I bought 2 copies to give as gifts - they were very much appreciated. Read more
I bought 2 copies to give as gifts - they were very much appreciated. Read more
Published 3 days ago by Design Queen
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite preent.
My husband gave me this book for Christmas & its fascinating. A real keepsake of a unique year for our nation
Published 4 days ago by Mrs Yvonne V Isaac
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book Full of Memories
Book feels solid, has some lovely photos of most of the memorable moments of the best Olympic Games I have seen. Read more
Published 4 days ago by marcusl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Value
This was a Christmas present and the person was very pleased with the item! Would purchase from this company again..
Published 4 days ago by F. Parkinson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Glorious London 2012
A Good record of the results, but disappointing perhaps pictorially. But how can so many events be sandwiched between the covers?
Published 5 days ago by George Harvey
5.0 out of 5 stars
London 2012 Olympic an Paralympic Games. Official Commemorative......
Wonderful to have all these marvellous events come to life again. What a truly magnificant year for London and now I have all the memories too.
Published 5 days ago by Lucy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Olympic and Paralympic games
Great book , great price ... we went to the Para Olympic games so I needed to get this commemorative book .... Read more
Published 6 days ago by retro
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