The International Olympic Committee faced awesome difficulties planning the 1940 Olymiad. The games were first scheduled to be held in Japan, but in 1938 the Japanese were preoccupied by their conflict with the Chinese and withdrew as the host country. The IOC then awarded the games to Helsinki, Finland, whose plans were interrupted when the Russians invaded in 1939. By that time it was clear that world events were too chaotic to allow for the Olympics. The war forced cancellation of the 1940 and 1944 games, and many believed that the depth of international hatred aroused by the war would end the Olympics altogether. But in 1945 the International Olympic Committee met in bomb-scarred London to plan the 1948 games for that city. The German blitz had devastated much of London; housing was at a premium; everything from food to transportation was rationed. Critics and naysayers abounded. The bickering set a...