Keys offers the first major study of the political and cultural ramifications of international sports competitions in the 1930s. Focusing on the U.S., Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union, she examines the transformation of events like the Olympics and the World Cup from small-scale events to the expensive, political, global extravaganzas of today.

Offers a study of the political and cultural ramifications of international sports competitions in the decades before WWII. This book examines the transformation of events like the Olympic Games and the World Cup from relatively small-scale events to the expensive, politically resonant, globally popular entertainment extravaganzas.