The Games traces Britains great Olympic & Paralympic past through powerful narrative striking anecdotes & over 250 compelling original images. It captures the individual atmosphere of past Games across the world from 1930s Berlin to 1980s Moscow Sydney in the Millennium to Beijings Birds Nest in 2008 & explores the explosion of interest in the Paralympic Games. Londons previous roles as host rescuing the Games in 1904 after Vesuvius erupted & battling with postwar austerity in 1948 are considered both as contemporaries saw them & from a historical perspective as are individual stories of British medal winners. The final chapter focuses upon the preparations for London 2012 events from individual athletes to the radical keynotes of sustainability & regeneration & shows how London 2012 will both strengthen & refresh Britains historic Olympic ties.