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Who’s Who of British International Athletes (men and women) 1945-1960. Richard Hymans writes that Mike Sheridan’s latest book is a worthy successor to Ian Buchanan’s work on the 1896-1939 period. The A4 sized book covers in its 206 pages all British internationals capped in Olympic Games, European Championships and GBR matches – 46 in all for men and 44 for women. Athletes such as Don Finlay, whose career covered 1929-49 have all their international performances shown, and the same applies to athletes whose careers continued beyond 1960. The book is well illustrated, with 95 photos in all. For anyone interested in British athletics in the post-war period, this is a worthy addition to any library. Price £16 (UK), 25 Euros, $30 – with payment by cheque drawn on a UK bank, Paypal or cash, and available from: Mike Sheridan, 27 Yew Tree Park, Congresbury, Somerset, BS49 5ER

(e-mail: info@britishathleticshistory.co.uk)

LATEST TRACK STATS

For some years David Thurlow has been performing a great service to British athletics history by interviewing prominent athletes of the past and he has continued his series with an intriguing feature on Sheila Lerwill in the latest (June) issue of Track Stats, the NUTS' quarterly magazine edited by Bob Phillips. Despite two hip replace-ments Sheila, at 81, remains extremely fit and walks vigorously for 90 minutes or more each morning across the South Downs in Sussex. Although she became world record holder in the high jump with a clearance of 1.72 at the 1951 WAAA Championships [incidentally the first world record witnessed by a enthralled 13 year-old Mel Watman!] and won the Olympic silver medal next year, Sheila's first love was always netball, at which she was an England international. The first woman to employ the straddle technique, Sheila fully expected to win the Olympic title in Helsinki but nerves prevented her from showing her best form and she was terribly disappointed with her second place to South African veteran Esther Brand. “The silver medal does not mean a dicky bird to me,” she reflected. “ I could have chucked it in the North Sea. Those are my feelings over the years and they have not changed. I felt I had let everyone down. I was the sort of person who believed that the world record holder goes into the Olympic Games and comes back with the gold medal and a new world record on top.” Those were the days for British women high jumpers: between 1936 and 1960 no fewer than 15 medals at Olympics, European Championships and Commonwealth Games were gained by Dorothy Tyler, Dora Gardner, Bertha Crowther, Sheila Lerwill, Thelma Hopkins, and Dorothy Shirley – including five successive Olympic silvers! David Thurlow also profiles another star of the fifties, the late Dr Frank Aaron, a British record breaker at 6 miles and 10,000m, and other features include the career record of Jamaica's gigantic 1948 Olympic 400m champion Arthur Wint, whose pbs included 9.9 100y, 21.2 220y, 29.9 300y, 46.2 400m, 1:09.0 600y, 1:49.6 880y, 55.4 400mH (back in 1938 as a 17 year-old) and 7.31 long jump. The previous issue (March) of Track Stats was devoted to the discus, including the career record of Italy's 1948 Olympic gold medallist Adolfo Consolini, a feature on his American successor as Olympic champion Sim Iness and David Thurlow's interview with Suzanne Allday which reveals that back in 1953 or 1954 she threw the men's hammer around 148ft (45m).

A year's subscription is £20 (UK), £25 (rest of Europe) or £28 (elsewhere); contact Liz Sissons, 8 Fairoak Lane, Chessington KT9 2NS, UK, or e-mail: lizsissons@blueyonder.co.uk

Friidrott 2010. 462 pages, 170 x 240 mm, 223 pictures, hard cover. Edited by Jonas Hedman, text in Swedish. The 50th anniversary edition is a superbly compiled review of world and Scandinavian athletics, including detailed championships and major events results with narrative, world outdoor top 50 year and all-time-lists, top 25 Scandinavian year and all-time lists plus indoor top tens and record lists for World, Europe, Scandinavia and Sweden. 395 kroner from TextoGraf Förla, Jonas Hedman, Springarvägen 14, 142 61 Trångsund, Sweden. See www.textograf.com/bocker.php?bookid=32

Sverigebästa genom tiderna i friidrott (2009) by Bengt Holmberg. Swedish All-Time lists MEN – Seniors, Juniors and Youths.This 660 page book, with an introduction in English, tells you everything you need to know about Sweden’s all-time lists. With many events listing up to 800 athletes, it is pretty comprehensive. Of interest for historians is the section listing top-10s in each event for each decade of the 20th century; of these the oldest mark is Dan Waern’s 3:38.6 for 1500m in 1960, achieved in a great duel with Herb Elliott.The regular price is: $103 (732 SEK) outside Europe (including postage and shipping). EUR 72 (687 SEK) within Europe (including postage and shipping); EUR 55 (533 SEK) within Sweden (including postage and shipping).

Friidrottens främsta män (Sweden’s top athletes in track and field) – by Jonas Hedman

This 432 page book by the prolific Jonas Hedman is a personal ranking of the top athletes in each event in Swedish athletics history. Each chapter focuses on the top ranked athlete and gives details of the athlete’s annual progression and top-25 performances. The text, naturally enough, is in Swedish, and the choices of the author will promote interest for those who have knowledge of the history of the sport in Sweden.At 57 Euros (or 550 Swedish Krone) this might seem expensive, but the production values are very good, and this is well worth owning. 170x240 mm, 160 pictures, hard cover.

Current discounted price: $90 outside Europe (regular price $103) (including postage and shipping); EUR 62 within Europe (regular price $72) (including postage and shipping); EUR 45 within Sweden (regular price $55) (including postage and shipping).

Order the book(s) by email to order@textograf.com
Or call: ++46 709 99 51 04 (Jonas Hedman).

Discus Statistics By Priit Tänava. Claiming to be the world’s first e-statistic book in throwing events, this 143-page compilation has many fascinating statistics for the men’s discus. It includes best athletes by average of top-10, top-50 and top-100 marks (Virgilijus Alekna heads this list at 69.227!), all 65m plus throwers, best venues etc. See www.team75plus.com.

European All-Time Lists. 1522 pages, A5. Compiled by members of the AEEA. This massive tome gives 1000-deep performance and 500-deep performer lists for European athletes for all current championship events. Just 15 euros, plus 36 euros for posting outside Spain. Website address is given as www.rfea.es/aeea/index.htm (although I have been unable to access the rfea site for some months

History of the European Athletics Championships – Barcelona 2010. 1160 pages, 242 x 214mm hardback. This huge work, compiled (mostly) by members of the Spanish statistical group (AEEA) is assuredly the definitive work on the European Championships. In providing complete results of all championships 1934-2006 great care has been taken by the compilers Félix Capilla, José Javier Etayo, José Luis Hernández and Miguel Villaseñor to check original results and these are accompanied by text (by Angel Cruz and Enric Pla) in Spanish and English. This takes us to page 682 after which there is a miscellany including comprehensive tables of multiple medallists, oldests and youngests and a detailed analysis country by country (by Thomas Hurst). Then we have a 154-pages index of all competitors by Francisco Ascorbe and Børre Lilloe, progression of championship bests (by Enrique Tre) and European outdoor records (by José María García, and finally national outdoor records for all standard events of European nations by György Csiki. All in all remarkable value at 25 euros but postage and packing is 36 euros outside Spain.email to publicaciones@rfea.es

Ist Youth Olympic Games – IAAF Statistics Handbook. A5 160pp. Compiled by Ottavio Castellini and Felix Capilla. Contents for this book, produced prior to the first Youth Olympics in Singapore 2010, include medallists at the World Youth Championships 1999-2009, world bests for the age group (under-17 in year of competition), Youth year lists for 2009 and 2010 (as known at 10 July) and all-time top 20 lists.

1st IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup – IAAF Statistics Handbook. Edited by Mark Butler. Includes full results and reports from all World Cup meetings since 1977, with an index of all competitors and area top 10 lists. Downloadable from the IAAF website. 4.5MB pdf file. See www.iaaf.org.

 The latest bulletin of the DGLD – the German statistical group, Deutschen Gesellschaft für Leichtathletik-Dokumentation – is No. 57. Its 310 pages include year lists, articles and results for Germany in 1921, the final part (R-Z) of the index of performances by German juniors 1949-90 plus tables of their medal successes, and a detailed article on Gretel Bergmann, plus indexes of DGLD Bulletins 1990-2010. Membership, with free Deutsche Bestenliste – euro 55 per year. Contact Hans Waynberg, Liebigstrasse 9, 41464 Neuss, Germany. email: hans.waynberg@t-online.de

Website: www.leichtathletik-dgld.de

Anuario 2009/2010 – Pista Cubierta y Campo a Través. A5 424pp. The Spanish Federation and their great group of statisticians continue to compile a truly marvellous collection of reference works. The rest of us can but look on and marvel! This annual includes comprehensive details for the Spanish cross country and indoor seasons with lists and results, all-time lists, lists of previous champions and colour photographs. 14 euros plus postage (€3.75 in Spain, €12 elsewhere) from the RFEA, vda. Valladolid 81 - 1º - 28.008 Madrid SPAIN. Email: publicaciones@rfea.es.

Javelin Statistics – Part 5. Tony Isaacs advises that the fifth of his six part series on the men’s javelin, its history and statistics is now available. In 56 pages he deals here with Asia, including progressive Asian records, Asian rankings 1919-09, results of Asian Games and Champion-ships and an index of men in these records. Each edition £5 (cheque or banknote) or 5 euros (banknote) from Tony at 43 St Georges Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 9PN, England. email: tony.isaacs3@talktalk.net

Athlérama 2009. 656pp. The French Annual, edited by Patricia Doilin with a strong team of compilers, is again a superb reference book – in a slightly smaller size at 195 x 140mm this year. Packed with information on French athletics – records, deep year lists for 2009, indexes, athlete profiles, results and all-time lists for all age groups. Extras include French top ten lists for 1909 and 1959. French ‘Champion of Champions’ for 2009 was Renaud Lavillenie. 28 euros from the FFA, 33 avenue Pierre de Coubertin, 75640 Paris CEDEX 13, France. email Patricia.Doilin@athle.org

Athletics 2010: The International Track & Field Annual, by Peter Matthews (ATFS); published by SportsBooks Ltd.

The annual miracle has occurred yet again. Within the space of 608 pages my colleague Peter Matthews has managed to squeeze every pertinent fact and figure relating to the previous year's international athletics action. His review of 2009 follows a tried and tested formula: deep year and all-time lists, records, champion-ship and other significant results, obituaries, book reviews and a comprehensive index. As always there is much else besides. This year's edition includes Bob Phillips' affectionate reflections on the Rome Olympics of 50 years ago together with brief world lists for 1960, and Roberto Quercetani on athletics documentation then and now.

The section that I always find the most fascinating is that incorporating biographical and statistical profiles of the world's current top athletes ... 425 men and 361 women in this edition. Haile Gebrselassie appears for the 18th year running, Paula Radcliffe for the 17th, but there are 139 newcomers. Last year I specifically mentioned that nearly a tenth of all the athletes listed were born in a country different from the one they now represent and new entries this year, among others, are András Haklits (Croatia but born in Hungary),  Michael Bingham (GBR/ USA), William Sharman (GBR/NGR), Meb Keflezighi (USA/ERI), Leonel Manzano (USA/MEX) and Debbie Dunn (USA/JAM). It was not a vintage year in terms of depth. In only two men's events did the 100^th best performer achieve best on record marks: in the 100m (10.22 as against a previous high of 10.23 in 2008) and the marathon (2:09:53 compared to 2:10:22 the previous year). Of the 103 men who broke 2:10 in 2009 no fewer than 64 hailed from Kenya and 27 from Ethiopia! The top non-African was Ukraine's Dmytro Baranovskiy, whose 2:08:19 ranked him 44^th. On the women's side no new 100^th best performer marks were established.

British Athletics 2010. A5. 411pp. This statistical review of 2009, compiled by the NUTS and edited by Rob Whittingham, Peter Matthews and Tony Miller, provides the usual comprehensive record of British athletics during the previous year. The centrepiece as always is the series of top 100 (or near) best performer lists for senior men and women with less deep lists for the younger age groups. Comparisons with ten years ago are instructive. In 1999 the 100^th best performer in the men's 100m was 10.94 while in 2009 it was 10.86, but in the marathon the figure worsened from 2:32:15 to 2:33:59 – a far cry from 1983 when no 100 ran 2:19:52, a time bettered by only eight runners last year. The pole vault progressed from 77 men over 4.20 to 95 but in the shot there were only 50 over 14m as against 62 ten years ago (and 80 ten years before that). More progress overall was seen in the women's events. The 60^th best at 100m improved from 12.27 to 12.10, the 80^th best at 1500m from 4:32.89 to 4:28.11, and of course there were spectacular gains in developing events like the pole vault (from 47 over 3m to 88) and hammer (from 63 over 40m to 92), but no 100 in the shot went down from 11.30 to 11.10. Other contents include 50 deep UK all-time lists, records, results of major meetings, Peter Matthews' merit rankings and a splendidly fact-filled index. Orders to Les Crouch, Gentle Murmurs, Woodside, Clos Llanfair, Wenvoe, Cardiff CF5 6EU, UK; price £18 UK, £20 rest of Europe, £22 outside Europe.

Cheques payable to NUTS.  E-mail: crouch_leslie@hotmail.com

Bulletin No 56 of the DGLD – the German statistical group, Deutschen Gesellschaft für Leichtathletik-Dokumentation contains in its 186 pages 100-deep all-time men’s performer and performance lists as at 31 Dec 1945 compiled by Richard Hymans and a continuation (H-Q) of the index of performances by German juniors 1949-90, in addition to usual statistical profiles of athletes born 70, 75, 90 and 100 years ago and ‘In Memoriam’. Membership of the DGLD (three bulletins per year with free Deutsche Bestenliste) is euro 55 per year. Contact Hans Waynberg, Liebigstrasse 9, 41464 Neuss, Germany. Website: www.leichtathletik-dgld.de

European Athletics Yearbook 2009-10. A5 564pp. From the European Athletic Association, Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet 18, CH-1003 Lausanne, Switzerland (25 euro in Europe, 30 euro elsewhere) – see www.European-athletics.org. Half of this valuable annual contains reviews and results of EAA meetings in 2009 plus a wealth of other useful information, and half European lists: 100-deep for 2009, with 50-deep U23 and junior lists, 30-deep indoor lists and 50-deep all-time lists, compiled by Mirko Jalava

L'Athlétisme Africain/African Athletics 2010. A5, 152p. By Yves Pinaud. Just out is the 29th edition of this splendid book, which has 100 deep men's and women's lists for Africa for 2009, with all-time lists, national championships and major meetings results. 20 euro, £18 or US $30 from La Mémoire du Sport, 46 rue des Bordeaux, 94220 Charenton-le-pont, France.

ENGLAND ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME

Voting is now open for the third year of the England Athletics Hall of Fame. Go to www.englandathletics.org and click on Hall of Fame and follow on-screen directions. Fans are invited to vote for three of the following: Linford Christie, Kathy Cook, Brendan Foster, Kelly Holmes, Dorothy Hyman, Derek Ibbotson, Denise Lewis, Ken Matthews, Jim Peters, Gordon Pirie, Tessa Sanderson and Fatima Whitbread. There is also a poll for the outstanding English athlete of the decade (2000-2009). You can vote for Jonathan Edwards, Jessica Ennis, Kelly Holmes, Phillips Idowu, Denise Lewis, Christine Ohuruogu, Paula Radcliffe or an athlete of your choice.

Asian Athletics 2009 Rankings. A5. Heinrich Hubbeling continues his magnificent annual job of compiling Asian statistics. His latest annual contains top 30s for 2009 for athletes from Asian nations, with continuation lists for countries other than China and Japan, indicating new national records, and full lists of Asian records. Euro 15/ US $23 in cash or by International Money Order from the author, Haydnstrasse 8, 48691 Vreden, Germany. 1998 and 2004-08 also available at Euro 10/US $15 each.

Weltrekorde und Weltrekordlerinnen – 80m, 100m, 400m Hürdenlauf Frauen. A4 172pp. This work, on women’s hurdling, is the latest by Manfred Holzhausen of splendidly detailed surveys (text in German, but masses of statistics) of world records and world record holders. As with previous books in the series (12 men’s and 4 women’s) there are results of all world record races with detailed career profiles (and illustrations) of record breakers, tables of annual world bests and results of races at major championships. Highly recommended. Price 16 euros in Europe from: Manfred Holzhausen, Dresdener Str. 4, 41516 Grevenbroich, Germany. e-mail: Manfred.Holzhausen@gmx.de

Bulletin No. 86 of the Spanish Statistical Group (the AEEA) (A5, 286pp) includes a magnificent work by Enric Pla about the men’s 800m at the Olympic Games, giving complete dettais of all races together with profiles of the medallists and details of major races and rankings leading up to the Games. 12 euros inc. postage in cash or postal order only from José Luis Hernández (estadistica@rfea.es), RFEA, Avda. Valladolid 81, 1° - 28008 Madrid, Spain.

100 Jahre Leichtathletik in Deutschland – Hürdenlauf der Frauen. The latest in the series of books dealing with the history of 100 years of athletics in Germany, event-by-event, to be published by the DGLD is available at 25 euros (no cheques from outside Europe) from Hans Waynberg, Liebigstrasse 9, 41464 Neuss, Germany.

Website: www.leichtathletik-dgld.de

British Athletics 2010

The 52nd NUTS Annual, edited by Rob Whittingham, Peter Matthews, and Tony Miller. Deep UK ranking lists for all age groups in 2009, top 12 merit rankings, all-time lists, results etc. £18 UK, £20 rest of Europe, £22 outside Europe; from Umbra Athletics Ltd, Unit 1, Bredbury Business Park, Bredbury Park Way, Stockport, SK6 2SN, England. All orders by credit card to www.umbraathletics.com

WOMEN'S TOP 100 YEAR LISTS: 1926 TO 1962 INCLUSIVE

EVENT BY EVENT

 330 PAGES   : A 4 SIZE      COLOUR COVER AND BACK PAGE 

 COMPILED BY

JOHN W BRANT     AND JANUSZ WASZKO

 Book weighs 1.2 Kilos!!

 Printed and coming over from Poland to me in 2 weeks time

Price                GBP £25.00               E30.00

Inclusive of postage to G.B. Or Europe

 Order from:-

JOHN W BRANT

40 THE QUADRANT

COTTINGHAM ROAD

HULL HU6 8NX

EAST YORKSHIRE

GREAT BRITAIN.

 Only 100 copies have been printed.

 9 Page Preface:-

The first time 60 metres extensive world lists compiled from 1926 to 1962.

 Lists Containing U.S.S.R Data rarely seen outside the U.S.S.R.

 Japanese statistics incorporated for the first time outside Japan

 Extensive National lists incorporated birthdates for many of the women.

 Deep for the first time War-Year lists 1940 to 1945.

 Extensive German lists incorporated including their 100 deep year lists.

 First names and surnames checked thoroughly for the first time and revising many previous erroneous names in national lists.

 Original sources consulted from many libraries throughout Europe.

 Great Britain women-first names and birthdates revised thoroughly from previous works.

 Names with correct symbols appropriate to national languages.

The Irish Championships 1885-1922 by Colm Murphy. A5 230pp. This, the second book in a series by the author, covers IAAA and GAA Championships in this period, after which both organisations were replaced by the creation of the NACAI as the governing body of athletics in Ireland. Heavily illustrated, including photo-graphs of all the 1908 Irish Olympians, here are detailed descriptions of each event each year. The rise and fall of Irish athletics is seen against the turbulent political background of the time. £18 or 20 euros plus postage, and a pre-publication (March) price of £15/17 euro inc. postage from Colm Murphy, 92 Rochester Avenue, Rochester, Kent. ME1 2DR, England.

Latvijas Vieglatletikas Gadagramata 2010. A5 184 pp. Comprehensive coverage of Latvian athletics for 2009, including records, results, biographies and year and all-time lists, compiled by Andris Stagis. From the Latvian Athletic Association, Augsiela 1, Riga LV-1009, Latvia.

The latest bulletin of the German statistical group, Deutschen Gesellschaft für Leichtathletik-Dokumentation (DGLDD) in No. 55. Its 222 pages includes the usual features and the first part of a detailed survey of athletics in the GDR 1949-90 plus details and analysis of all German performances at World Championships 1976-2009. Also just out is Deutsche Bestenliste 2008 – a little tardy, but the definitive deep German lists for the year. Membership of the DGLD for these bulletins is euro 55 per year. Contact Hans Waynberg, Liebigstrasse 9, 41464 Neuss, Germany.

Website: www.leichtathletik-dgld.de

The latest magnificent bulletin of the Spanish statistical group, the AEEA is No. 85 – December 2009. This weighs in at a whopping 388 pages, of which 257 are a great compilation by Miguel Villaseñor of Women’s all-time European lists for all events for 5-yearly intervals from 1920, generally 10 performers and 10 performances. There is also a listing of all 468 sub-3:38 marks by Spanish athletes at 1500m and an analysis of Spanish athletes in World and European rankings 1921-2008.

The AEEA have also produced deep Spanish all-time lists, 100 performances and 100 performers plus, which is a 1.4mb pdf downloadable from the Spanish Federation web-site at:

http://www.rfea.es/web/noticias/desarrollo.asp?codigo=3598

Also just published is a 187-page biography (in Spanish) of Tomàs Barris by Ignacio Mansilla and José Luis Hernández. Barris, who set 35 Spanish records, taking for instance the 1500m record from 3:54.6 to 3:41.7 in 1955-8, was one of the very first Spanish athletes to make an impact at European level.

Membership of the AEEA (four bulletins per year) is 55 euros per year (61 euros outside Europe) from AEEA secretary Ignacio Mansilla, C/Encinar del Rey, 18 - 28450 Collado Mediano, Madrid, Spain.

email: ranking@rfea.es.

IAAF Directory and Calendar 2010. A5, 312 pages. Essential reference with contact details for officials, organisations and national federations, plus calendar and lists of records and champions. $16 from the IAAF at 17 rue Princesse Florestine, BP 359, MC 98007, Monaco. Email to: headquarters@iaaf.org

Israeli Athletics Annual 2009/10. 240 x 170mm, 54pp. By David Eiger. Records, championship results, 2009 top 20s and all-time lists, with profiles of leading Israeli athletes. 7 euro or US $10 from David Eiger, 10 Ezra Hozsofer Str, Herzliya 46 371, Israel. Past editions (from 1986) are available at a reduced price.

Anuario Athlético Español Ranking 2008/2009. At 1008 pages this majestic tome beats the previous year’s record as the largest national annual ever. It has everything about Spanish athletics with immense depth of results and annual lists for 2009 as well as records, all-time lists, details of all Spanish champions, lists of Spanish international matches, biographies of current stars and details of Spanish participation at major events. Also colour photographs. 25 euros from the Federación Española de Atletismo (RFEA), Avda. Valladolid 81 - 1º - 28.008 Madrid SPAIN. Email: publicaciones@rfea.es.

DLV Leichtathletik Jahrbuch 2009. A5 366pp. The official yearbook of the German Federation. Directory and review, with articles on top athletes, detailed results of 2009 meetings, records and top tens, also many illustrations in colour. Euro 19.50 plus postage, from Deutsche Leichtathletik Marketing GmbH, Postfach 10 04 63, 64219 Darmstadt, Germany.

See www.leichtathletik.de

DLV Leichtathletik Bestenliste 2009. A5 414pp. The DLV’s ranking lists for 2009 for all events compiled by Eberhard Vollmer, generally 50-deep for seniors and Jugend-A, 30-deep for other age groups. Also German records and photos. Euro 15 – as above.

Berlin 2009 Leichtathletik WM. A4 144pp. Profusely and beautifully illustrated in colour throughout, this is a lovely record of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, with the text in German and particular concentration on the German athletes. Published for the DLV by CNG sports & media GmbH, Machabäerstraße 3, 50668 Köln, Germany. www.cng-media.de

Annuare FLA 2009. A4 184p. The splendid Luxembourg Annual, edited by Georges Klepper has every possible detail for this nation– reviews, results, 2009 and all-time lists, plus photographs. 15 euros in Europe, 20 euros elsewhere to account no. LU32 1111 0200 0321 0000. See www.fla.lu.

Combined Events Annual 2009 by Hans van Kuijen. A5, 216pp. I have mentioned before the forthcoming publication of the 17th edition of this attractively produced annual, writes Peter Matthews. Having now received my copy, I thoroughly recommend this superb compil-ation. There are many extras as well as the staples such as the multi-event lists for 2009 with deep all-time world lists. For instance a little table gives the number of decathlons over 8000 and heptathlons over 6000 ever made at various venues, Götzis comes out easily on top with 263 and 297 respectively. Talence is next with 142 and 184, and these two are far ahead of the next highest in each category of 53 (Ratingen) and 69 (Kiev). A fascinating table scoring multi-eventers by their all-time bests at each event has, at the decathlon, top very easily Dan O’Brien 9572 from Michael Smith 9362 and Roman Sebrle 9326, and even more easily top of the women’s heptathlon Jackie Joyner-Kersee 7654 from Carolina Klüft 7240 and Eunice Barber 7212. It will be interesting to watch the 2009 world champions climb from their current positions: Trey Hardee 19th 9110, Jessica Ennis 23rd 6969. In Europe: 27.50 euro or £25 sterling cash (add £10 for cheques). Payments to bank account 52.31.27.898 of ABN-AMRO, Helmond, BIC code ABNANL2A. Outside Europe: US $50 cash or $70 cheques– from Hans van Kuijen, de Bergen 66, 5706 RZ Helmond, Netherlands. Email: hvankuijen@wxs.nl. Back numbers for 2001-02, 2005-08: 15 Euro each.

Yleisurheilu 2009. A5 672pp. The splendid Finnish Yearbook, published by Suomen Urheilulitto (Finnish Athletics) and compiled by Juhani and Mirko Jalava, is out now. It contains not only every conceivable statistic for Finnish athletics (with results and deep year lists) in 2009 but also world indoor, outdoor and junior lists for the year as at November. 17 euros plus postage and packaging. Orders by e-mail to juhani@tilastopaja.fi

“Conquerors Of Time” by Lynn McConnell; published by SportsBooks Ltd, PO Box 422, Cheltenham GL50 2YN, UK. (www.sportsbooks.ltd.uk/athletics). Price £10 post free to UK customers; add £3 postage for rest of Europe, £5 for rest of world. Payment by cheque or credit card.

Coe and Ovett, Bannister and Landy, Hägg and Andersson ... their mile or 1500m duels are part of athletics' folklore. Less well remembered or documented are the series of thrilling races over those distances which occurred during the 1930s. Luigi Beccali won the Olympic 1500m in Los Angeles in 1932; the following year Jack Lovelock set a world mile record of 4:07.6 ahead of Bill Bonthron at Princeton and Beccali beat Lovelock for the World Student Games 1500m title in a world record equalling 3:49.2, improving a week later to 3:49.0; in 1934 Glenn Cunningham lowered the mile record to 4:06.7 at Princeton but Bonthron narrowly beat him for the US 1500m title in a world record 3:48.8 while, in London, Lovelock took the Empire Games mile ahead of Sydney Wooderson, who was destined set a world mile record of 4:06.4 in 1937. The highlight of 1935 was a Princeton mile victory for Lovelock over Bonthron and Cunningham, while in Berlin in 1936 Lovelock triumphed over Cunningham and Beccali with a world record 3:47.8 in an Olympic final which remains a classic thanks to the New Zealander's tactical daring.

All these, and many more, races at these distances are superbly reconstructed by Lynn McConnell, an award winning writer and editor from New Zealand who provides particularly acute insights into the career and personality of his compatriot thanks to reference to Lovelock's diaries. The other towering figures of that period are also well drawn and there is much for the enthusiast to savour in this 244-page paperback. It's a terrific, nostalgic story of the fascinating characters who contributed to an enchanting era in miling history.

Dopo una lunga attesa esce finalmente il secondo volume de “I Figli del Vento”, storia dei 100 metri ai Giochi Olimpici. Otto anni dopo l’uscita del primo volume (1896 – 1908).Adesso potrete prendere una conoscenza più approfondita di un periodo straordinario della storia della velocità, e dell’atletica in generale, che va dai Giochi di Stoccolma 1912, i primi a rendere giustizia al grande progetto di De Coubertin, ai Giochi di Los Angeles del 1932.Questo secondo volume racconta la storia di uomini che fecero grande la velocità nei venti anni da me trattati. Uomini di grande spessore atletico quali Lippincott, primo primatista mondiale della specialità secondo l’ufficialità data dalla neo-costituita I.A.A.F., Charles Paddock, il più forte scattista del periodo, Harold Abrahams, vincitore dei 100 metri ai Giochi di Parigi 1924, tornato alla ribalta con l’eccezionale film “Momenti di gloria”, Percy Williams, il canadese trionfatore di Amsterdam 1928 e tanti altri. Per ogni edizione vengono raccontate le storie dei protagonisti, analizzati i dati, descritto il contesto storico nel quale si sono svolti i Giochi e fornito molto prezioso materiale fotografico per ripercorrere, anche visivamente, le gesta dei pionieri dello sprint mondiale.Il volume di oltre 380 pagine, realizzato con grande cura tipografica, può essere richiesto direttamente al sottoscritto all’indirizzo di posta elettronico: gustavopallicca@tin.it, oppure gustavo.pallicca@atleticanet.it.e avrete le istruzioni per il pagamento del prezzo (euro 21,00 + euro 4 di spese postali). Come vedete un prezzo nettamente inferiore a quello del primo volume (euro 35,00).Offerta speciale: Per consentire agli appassionati dello sprint e della storia dell’atletica leggera che non hanno avuto l’opportunità di acquistare il primo volume (costo 35,00 euro), in via promozionale offriamo i primi due volumi de “I Figli del Vento” al prezzo speciale di euro 41,00 più spese di spedizione (4 euro) con un risparmio netto di ben 15,00 euro. Un’offerta davvero vantaggiosa da non lasciarsi sfuggire.

LATEST TRACK STATS

Editor Bob Phillips has excelled himself in providing so many diverse articles, relating to international as well as British athletes, in the latest (September) issue of the NUTS quarterly magazine, “Track Stats”. Approaching the 90th anniversary of his first Olympic medals, Paavo Nurmi is the subject of a revealing 12-page study by Veli-Matti Autio, the archivist at Helsinki University; other profiles include Cuban sprinter Rafael Fortún and New Zealand javelin thrower Stanley Lay; and there is an interview (in 1987) with the USA's 1932 Olympic high jump champion Jean Shiley. British contents include a record of high jumper Peter Wells' competitions between 1946 and 1957; the marathoning career of computing pioneer and wartime codebreaker Alan Turing; and a feature on Scottish hammer legend Tom Nicolson. Collectors of marathon stats will salivate over a 1939 world list (265 runners down to 3:28:01) compiled by members of the Association of Road Racing Statisticians as part of the Annual Marathon Rankings Project led and co-ordinated by Andy Milroy. The world leader that year was Go Toyu of Korea with 2:31:26 in Tokyo and among the more familiar names listed are Boston legend John A Kelley USA (2:37:07), Squire Yarrow GBR (2:37:50; 1938 European silver medallist), Fyedosiy Vanin URS (2:43:57; he would finish 3rd in the 1950 Europeans), Johannes Coleman RSA (2:45:53; 4th in 1948 Olympics), Lauri Virtanen FIN (2:47:27; 1932 Olympic 5000 & 10,000m bronze medallist), Tom Richards GBR (2:50:26; 2nd 1948 Olympics) and the amazing Clarence DeMar (2:50:32 at age 50; 12th in 1912 Olympics, 3rd in 1924).

For subscription details, contact Liz Sissons: lizsissons@blueyonder.co.uk

The History of the Panamerican Junior Athletics Championships 1980 to 2007. 272x210mm, 246 pages. By Amadeo Francis and Cecil Smith. The story and detailed results of the 14 editions of this meeting that was first held in 1980 in Sudbury, Canada and organised by Cecil Smith, ATFS member and chairman of the Panamerican Junior Athletics Commission.

Obtainable for US$15.00 (including postage) from the Panamerican Athletics Commission, Inc. at P.O. Box 11040, San Juan, PR 00910. panathlete@gmail.com. The results are also available on line (including the 2009 champs) on www.panam.revsys.net.

Weltrekorde und Weltrekordlerinnen. A4 116pp. Manfred Holzhausen has continued his series of splendidly detailed surveys (text in German, but masses of statistics) of world records and world record holders with one on women’s long distance running. As with previous books in the series (12 men’s and 3 women’s) there are results of all WR races with detailed career profiles (and illustrations) of record breakers, tables of annual world bests and results of races at major championships. Included are Women’s 5000m, 10,000, 1 Hour, 20,000m, 25,000m, 30,000m and 3000m steeple-chase. From: Manfred Holzhausen, Dresdener Str. 4, 41516 Grevenbroich, Germany.

e-mail: Manfred.Holzhausen@gmx.de

Swedish All Time Lists for Men (”Sverigebästa genom tiderna i friidrott”) compiled by Bengt Holmberg (editor: Jonas Hedman). 664 pages, 170x240 mm, hard cover. The book includes deep all-time-lists for men in all events (up to top 1000) plus shorter lists for juniors and youth, from age 14 to U23. $61 (plus postage and shipping) from TextoGraf Förlag, Jonas Hedman, Springarvägen 14, 142 61 Trångsund, Sweden. Email: order@textograf.com or call: ++47 709 99 51 04. More info at: http://www.textograf.com/swealltime

Friidrott 2008. 406 pages, 170x240 mm, 145 pictures, hard cover. Jonas Hedman has been the editor from 2007 of this annual which was first published in 1961. This is the 49th edition, covering world and Scandinavian athletics, including detailed championships results with narrative, world outdoor top 50 year and all-time-lists, top 25 Scandinavian year and all-time lists plus indoor top tens and record lists for World, Europe, Scandinavia and Sweden. $41 (plus postage and shipping) from TextoGraf Förlag as above.More info at: http://www.textograf.com/fri

Sverige Bästa 2008. A5 294 pages. Edited by Jonas Hedman. Detailed Swedish lists for seniors (100 deep), juniors and youth (20 deep). $20 (plus postage and shipping) from the Swedish Athletic Association: Svenska Friidrottsförbundet, Box 11, 171 18 Solna, Sweden. Email: info@friidrott.se.

A World History of Hurdle & Steeplechase Racing, 1860-2008, by Roberto L Quercetani.

Readers who have enthused over RLQ's previous event histories will be pleased to hear that the maestro has produced another of his superbly researched and highly readable works. This, on the hurdles and steeplechase for men and women, completes the range of track events and the winning formula remains unchanged. The evolution of each of the barrier events is traced in illuminating detail and there are statistics galore to back up the text in this 223 page book. The second half is devoted to world year lists, up to ten deep, from the earliest days, and there are also all-time lists at the end of each 20-year segment. How to buy the book?Write to Athletics International, 13 Garden Court, Marsh Lane, Stanmore HA7 4TE, UK, stating your name and address and enclosing  £30 or 45 euros for UK and European customers, or £40 or US$75 for the rest of the world. Payment can be in cash or (sterling only) by a cheque drawn on a British bank and made payable to Athletics International. You can also order by e-mail (to mel@gardencourt.fsnet.co.uk) and pay by credit card: Visa, Mastercard, Amex only. Include your postal address and these details: type of card, card number, name as on card, security number (3-digit number on back of card) and expiry date. Credit card transactions are handled on our behalf by Umbra Athletics Ltd and there is a surcharge of £3. The amount (£33 or £43) will be taken from your account in sterling. All orders will be forwarded (e-mail) to the Italian publishers (EditVallardi), who will despatch the books by airmail.

European Junior Championships 2009 – Offical Statistics Handbook. 409 pages. Compiled by Roberto Camano, this book contains results of all previous finals at these Championships (first held 1970), European junior all-time lists 100 deep (plus top ten performances) and national junior records for all European countries. Contact Roberto Camano at robbi.c@tiscali.it or write to him at Via Barzilai 11, 20146 Milano, Italy.

A World History of Hurdle & Steeplechase Racing, 1860-2008, by Roberto L Quercetani.

Readers who have enthused over RLQ's previous event histories will be pleased to hear that the maestro, now aged 87, is still going strong and has produced another of his superbly researched and highly readable works. This one, on the hurdles and steeplechase for men and women, completes the range of track events and the winning formula remains unchanged.

The evolution of each of the barrier events is traced in illuminating detail, with many an intriguing aside, and there are statistics galore to back up the text in this 223 page book. The second half is devoted to world year lists, up to ten deep, from the earliest days: 1860 for the men's hurdles and 1910 for the steeplechase; 1926 for the women's sprint hurdles, 1973 for the 400m hurdles and 1998 for the steeplechase. There are also all-time lists at the end of each 20-year segment. More than 50 photos range from Thomas Curtis, the 1896 Olympic 110m hurdles winner, to Dayron Robles and Kerron Clement, and on the women's side from a quaint shot of a women's hurdles race at the exclusive Vassar College (USA) in 1900 to Yuliya Pechonkina and Gulnara Galkina.

Fascinating facts and figures abound; here are a few examples. One of the USA's earliest Olympic heroes, Alvin Kraenzlein (winner of the 60m, 110m hurdles, 200m hurdles and long jump at the 1900 Games), was actually born in Germany, his parents migrating to America when he was three. At a time when his unratified world record for 440y hurdles stood at 54.6, William Meanix was timed at 52.6 when winning the AAU title in San Francisco in 1915 – but on a straight course with strong wind assistance! Described by the author as “probably the most surprising of all world records made in the years between the two World Wars” was Forrest Towns' 13.7 110m hurdles in Oslo in 1936 – improving his previous record by all of 4/10ths. It took the IAAF two years to ratify the mark but all was in order; there was no wind and the three official watches read 13.7, 13.7 and 13.8 with two alternates registering 13.6 and 13.7. Another astonishing breakthrough was Bob Tisdall's Olympic 400m hurdles victory in 1932. Prior to Los Angeles the Ceylon-born, English educated Irishman had run the event just three times: 55.0 (400m) in 1930, 56.2 and 54.2 (440y) in 1932. At the Games he he won his semi in 52.8 (52.60) and ran 51.7 (51.67) in the final although a world record was denied him under the rules then in force as he knocked down the last hurdle.

The text is full of names that resonate over the years ... Lord Burghley, Glenn Hardin, Harrison Dillard, Glenn Davis, David Hemery, Ed Moses, Gaston Roelants, Kevin Young, Babe Didrikson, Fanny Blankers-Koen, and so many more. Let us hope that Roberto, who has been writing books on athletics history and statistics for over 60 years, can now move on to the field events and complete his encyclopaedic documentation of our sport.

How to buy the book

Write to Athletics International, 13 Garden Court, Marsh Lane, Stanmore HA7 4TE, UK, stating your name and address and enclosing  £30 or 45 euros for UK and European customers, or £40 or US$75 for the rest of the world. Payment can be in cash or (sterling only) by a cheque drawn on a British bank and made payable to Athletics International. You can also order by e-mail (to mel@gardencourt.fsnet.co.uk) and pay by credit card: Visa, Mastercard, Amex only. Include your postal address and these details: type of card, card number, name as on card, security number (3-digit number on back of card) and expiry date. Credit card transactions are handled on our behalf by Umbra Athletics Ltd and there is a surcharge of £3. The amount (£33 or £43) will be taken from your account in sterling. All orders will be forwarded by e-mail to the Italian publishers (EditVallardi), who will despatch the books by airmail.

Jamaican Athletics ‘A Model for 2012 and the World’ by Patrick Robinson. 255x214mm, 140 pages. Previously published in Jamaica, this book has been updated and published in Britian. It celebrates with text and many fine colour illustrations the extraordinary successes of Jamaican athletes over the past 60 years – up to their marvellous feats at the 2008 Olympic Games. The book identifies the reasons for such success, most notably the strong schools programme and great traditions for the sport in Jamaica, pointing out the lessons that can be learned by the rest of the world. £6.99 from Arcadia Books – Gary Pulsifer: gary@arcadiabooks.co.uk

British Athletics 2009. A5 432 pages. The 51st NUTS Annual, edited by Rob Whittingham, Peter Matthews, and Tony Miller, has been delayed but is in stock now. Contents feature deep UK ranking lists for all age groups in 2008, top 12 merit rankings, all-time lists and results of leading international and national meetings. The cover photo is of Stephanie Twell winning the European Junior CC. Price £18 UK, £20 rest of Europe, £22 outside Europe; from Umbra Athletics Ltd, Unit 1, Bredbury Business Park, Bredbury Park Way, Stockport, SK6 2SN, England. All orders by credit card to:

www.umbraathletics.com worldwide post-free for £18.

Athlérama 2008. A5, 696pp. The French Annual, edited by Patricia Doilin with a strong team of compilers, is again a superb reference book – and with 88 extra pages this year. Packed with information on French athletics – deep year lists for 2008, indexes, athlete profiles, results and all-time lists for all age groups. Extras include French top ten lists for 1908 and 1958 and a survey of all 5.60 plus pole vault performances by Frenchmen 1979-2008 by Patrice Bertignon. Also many colour photos. 28 euros from the FFA, 33 avenue Pierre de Coubertin, 75640 Paris CEDEX 13, France. email Patricia.Doilin@athle.org

L'Athlétisme Africain/African Athletics 2009. A5, 152p. By Yves Pinaud. 28th edition of this splendid book has 100 deep men's and women's lists for Africa for 2008, with all-time lists, national championships and major meetings results. 20 euro, £18 or US $30 from Polymédias, 46 rue des Bordeaux, 94220 Charenton-le-pont, France. (also available booklist with very extensive list of athletics books and magazines for sale).

The Men’s Javelin Throw – History and Statistics by Tony Isaacs. A5 76pp. Part 4 is now ready. This 52-page booklet concentrates on Africa with progressive records, rankings 1910-2008, results of African Games and Championships and regional games and championships. Also an index of African record holders and champions. Still available: Part 1 – History and progressive world records and world rankings 1891-2006; Part 2 – Olympic Games and World Championships (including Juniors, Youths and Masters); Part 3 – Inter-continental Games and Championships such as Universiade, World Military Championships, Commonwealth, Francophone and Mediterranean Games. Each booklet £5 or 10 euros (banknotes) from Tony Isaacs, 43 St George’s Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 9PN, England.

E-mail: tony.isaacs3@talktalk.net.

Anuario 2008/2009 – Pista Cubierta y Campo a Través. A5 424pp. Comprehensive details for the Spanish cross country and indoor seasons with lists and results, all-time lists, lists of previous champions and colour photographs. 14 euros plus postage (€3.75 in Spain, €12 elsewhere) from the Federación Española de Atletismo (RFEA), Avda. Valladolid 81 - 1º - 28.008 Madrid SPAIN. Email: publicaciones@rfea.es.

2009 USA Track & Field Media Guide & FAST Annual (general editors: Jill Geer & Scott Davis). A5 688pp. Once again a hefty tome, the first 264 pages of this handbook is the USATF Media Guide with detailed profiles of 151 top athletes plus lists of all US champions from 1990, and articles including a survey of US medallists at Olympic Games and World Championships. There follows the 31st edition of the FAST Annual with records, 50-deep US lists for 2008 and all-time, with 12-deep junior and college all-time lists. The massive final index section includes annual progressions and champ-ionships details for top American athletes. $32 airmail from Scott Davis, 4432 Snowbird Circle, Cerritos, CA 90703, USA. email: ssd@aol.com

Athletics 2009 – The International Athletics Annual.

It's inconceivable that anyone interested enough in world class athletics performances to subscribe to “AI” would not wish to own a copy of Athletics 2009, the ATFS's International Track & Field Annual edited for the 26th year by my indefatigable colleague Peter Matthews. Its 608 pages contain every essential statistic relating to global athletics in 2008 ... and so much more. There are lists of records, all-time lists, fact-filled biographies of 420 male and 365 female athletes (see below), an index to athletes ranked in the top 100 last year in each standard event with details of birthdate, height, weight and personal best. There are stimulating articles by Bob Phillips, Stan Greenberg and Roberto Quercetani, reviews of books published in the past year and a sad roll-call of those who have died since the previous Annual, their ages ranging from 22 (Finnish high jumper Jussi Tasala) to 100 (1927 International cross country champion Lewis Payne). Mel Watman

Obtainable from the publishers, SportsBooks Ltd – 1 Evelyn Court, Cheltenham, GL50 2JP, UK. Cost is £18.95 plus £3 postage for Europe and £5 for rest of the world. Payment can be direct by cheque (sterling drawn on a UK bank) or by credit card emailed or sent by post. No Eurocheques or US checks.

Or go to www.sportsbooks.ltd.uk and buy it through a secure site (charges in sterling).

Tel 01242 254326, fax 08700 750 888

E-mail: randall@sportsbooks.ltd.uk

Scottish Athletics Yearbook 2009. A5 320p. Edited by Arnold Black for the SATS. This book celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first Scottish yearbook; it has special articles analysing performance trends and details every athlete to have topped the senior rankings in this period. Plus the usual comprehensive review of Scottish athletics in 2008 and deep Scottish lists for all age groups, event reviews and championship results, all-time lists and records and a 4-page section of colour photographs. Remarkable value at £6 (£7.50 inc. postage in the UK, £9 elsewhere), sterling cheques only, payable to S.A.T.S. From Arnold Black, 19 Millbrae Crescent, Langside, Glasgow G42 9UW, UK.

The latest bulletin from the DGLD (Deutschen Gesell-schaft für Leichtathletik-Dokumentation) is No 53 –230 pages – A special ‘Jahrbuch der Leichtathletik 1948’ with profiles, articles and results of major meetings in Germany (all zones) for the year. Records are given as at 1948 and there are German lists for the year – generally 50 performers and 40 performances.DGLD Membership, with free Deutsche Bestenliste (annual German lists) is euro 55 per year Contact Hans Waynberg, Grefrather Weg 100, 41464 Neuss/Rh, Germany. Website: www.leichtathletik-dgld.de

Asian Athletics 2008 Rankings. A5 96 pages. Heinrich Hubbeling continues his magnificent annual job of compiling Asian statistics. This booklet includes top 30s for 2008 for athletes from Asian nations, with continuation lists for countries other than China and Japan, indicating new national records, and full lists of Asian records. Euro 15/US $20 in cash or by International Money Order from the author, Haydnstrasse 8, 48691 Vreden, Germany. Copies also available for 1998, 2004-07 at Euro 10/US $13 each.,

The Spanish group, the AEEA continues to produce magnificent statistical publications. Membership of the AEEA (four bulletins per year) is 55 euros per year (61 euros outside Europe) from AEEA secretary Ignacio Mansilla, C/Encinar del Rey, 18 - 28450 Collado Mediano, Madrid, Spain. email: ranking@rfea.es.

Bulletin No. 83 – January 2009 (394 pages) was a special issue with Spanish all-time lists – top 100 performers plus deep performance lists for all men’s and women’s events.

Due next is No. 84 – April 2009 with world all-time junior and youth lists. Price 12 euros.

Atletismo Cubano: Finalistas – Records – Rankings. Basilio Fuentes is continuing his remarkable job of docu-menting the history of Cuban athletics with a series of A5-size booklets. Each includes a summary of Cuban medallists, progressive Cuban records, 50-deep all-time lists and top ten rankings each year from 1905 for men and 1933 for women (or later as may be be appropriate) for each standard event. Tomo III men’s field events which runs to 358 pages and Tomo V, women’s track events of 362 pages. Contact Basilio at basilio@inder.cu

LATEST TRACK STATS

Roger Bannister was the first man to break four minutes but the latest (March) issue of Track Stats, the NUTS quarterly magazine, lists 1089 runners who have clocked 3:59.99 or faster as at 31.12.2008.Arranged alphabetically, starting with Miloud Abaoub of Algeria (3:55.49 in 1997) and ending with Croatia's Branko Zorko (3:52.64 in 1998), the list compiled by Ian R.Smith, indicates each man's first sub-4 time and, where different, their subsequent pb. The mile retains its popul-arity as 53 broke 4 min last year (24 of them for the first time), a total exceeded only by the 70 of the previous year. The most prolific name, appropriately in view of the compiler, is Smith – Barry and Geoff of Britain; Christian, Maurice, Max and Tom of the USA – plus Hendrik Smit (RSA), while there are four instances of two sub-4 milers with the same name: Britain's Matthew Barnes (3:58.39 in 1994 and 3:59.57 in 2007) and Ian Stewart (3:57.3 in 1969 and 3:53.20 in 1982); David Campbell of Canada (3:58.01 in 1986) and of Ireland (3:58.19 in 2008); and Kenya's Daniel Komen (3:46.38 in 1997 and 3:48.28 in 2007). To that can be added Matt Centrowitz of the USA, the father running 3:54.94 in 1982 and the son clocking 3:57.92 indoors this year.Other features include a detailed account by editor Bob Phillips of the Canadian 400m hurdler John Loaring, the 1936 Olympic silver medallist; British women's top ten lists for 1958; and an interview with former UK 100/ 220y record holder Sylvia Disley (née Cheeseman) by David Thurlow, who also contributes a piece on British half milers of the early post-war period, Tom White, Frank Evans and Albert Webster.Annual subscription is £17 (UK), £21 Europe, £26 elsewhere; cheque payable to NUTS; contact Liz Sissons, 8 Fairoak Lane, Chessington, Surrey

Swiss Athletics 2008. A5 366pp. The 35th edition of this Annual provides the usual comprehensive compilation of Swiss records, results, 2008 and all-time top ten lists (by ATFS members Antonin Hejda and Alberto Bordoli). There are also statistical profiles of 23 top Swiss athletes. From the SLV, Postfach 606, 3000 Bern 22, Switzerland.

 South African Athletics Annual 2009. A5 240 pages. Edited by Riël Hauman. This is the 57th edition of this Annual, and remarkably Gert le Roux has been a major contributor to 50 of these. The Annual includes 2008 and all-time lists, records and results. SA athletes of the year were Khotso Mokoena and René Kalmer. Also included is the South African Athletics Hall of Fame that lists all the nation’s medallists at major games and championships. It is sad to read that the SA Athletics Statisticians (SAAS) are finding it increasingly difficult to do the job at which they have excelled for over half a century due to the apathy about the recording of results and lack of support from the governing body, Athletics South Africa.From SA Athletics Annual, PO Box 668, BelaBela 0480, South Africa at 80 SA Rand by surface mail or 120 Rand by airmail. No cheques. email gler@mweb.co.za

The DGLD – the German statistical group, Deutschen Gesellschaft für Leichtathletik-Dokumentation – continues to produce detailed statistical bulletins. No 52 – 152 pages – included progressive German indoor men’s triple jump records, ‘Mitteldeutsche’ Championships 1905-33 and progressive German W30 to W70 records for 10,000m to javelin as well as the regular statistical profiles of athletes born 70 years ago, 75, 80, 85, 90 etc.Membership, with free Deutsche Bestenliste (deep German lists for 2007 just published in a 204-page book) is euro 55 per year. Contact Hans Waynberg, Grefrather Weg 100, 41464 Neuss/Rh, Germany.Website: www.leichtathletik-dgld.de

Eesti Kergejõustiku Aastaraamat 2009. 314pp. The Estonian annual is an attractively produced book with comprehensive Estonian ranking lists indoors and out for 2008, with results and records. Male and female athletes of 2008 were Gerd Kanter and Keire Leibak. From the Estonian Athletic Federation, Maakri 23, Tallinn 10145, Estonia

The Landy Era: From Nowhere to the Top of the World is a new book by Len Johnson and tells the tale of how from roughly the end of World War II to Herb Elliott's mile world record in 1958, Australia went to a position of dominance in world miling. And, of course, after that Herb went on to win the Olympic 1500 in Rome in 1960 in world record time followed by the great exploits of Ron Clarke (who writes an introduction) and another Olympic gold medallist in Ralph Doubell. There's been nothing like it before or since in Australia in any athletics discipline. John Landy, who succeeded Roger Bannister as the world mile record holder and had that great race against him at the Empire Games in 1954, led the way for the others. The book can be ordered on-line at www.melbournebooks.com.au.

All Time 1000 Performances by Giuseppe Mappa. The fourth edition of this massive work (first three editions 1987, 1998 and 2001 with Roberto Quercetani) is now published on CD rather than in printed form. It covers all men’s Olympic events plus 1 mile, 3000m and half marathon and in addition to details of top marks includes an alphabetical index of athletes. Price is 30 euros including postage from the author at 6 Piazza della Costituzione, 50129 Firenze, Italy. email:g.mappa@winalltime.it

Richard Hymans writes: Not surprisingly, athletes who are good in events which can be held frequently – hurdles, field events and sprints – are more likely to dominate than middle and long distance runners. Colin Jackson is the most dominant track athlete, with 142 marks of 13.26 or better at 110mh (Allen Johnson with 128 isn’t far behind). The only other track athlete with 100+ marks in the top-1000 is Samuel Matete at 400mh, with 108 at 48.50 or better (Ed Moses has 79). Of the field eventers Sotomayor has 142 at 2.32, Sergey Bubka 148 at 5.81 (and 185 of the 1604 marks listed at 5.80), Larry Myricks 110 at 8.25, Virgilius Alekna 117 at 66.90 and in the JT Sergey Makarov’s 100 at 84.60 is topped by Jan Zelezny’s 122 (exclud-ing 14 with the rough tailed implement in 1991-2). Of the field event leaders, four were at their peak in the 1980s (Soto, Bubka, Myricks, Werner Günthor), three in the 1990s (Jonathan Edwards (91 at 17.24), Igor Astapkovich (84 over 80.00), and Zelezny), with just one (Alekna) in his prime in the current decade. All in all, it’s a terrific reference source, and well worth the 30 Euros for the disk.

CUBA y EL MUNDO EN LOS AÑOS OLIMPICOS 1924-2004 Basilio Fuentes (ATFS) y Lázaro Betancourt

Cuban athletes in Games, by events men and women, cronology of olympic records. A comparison in olympic years of Cubans and champions, for each event 3 cronological graphics. In Index personal data of Cubans. Include Chapters about Doping and Training History. Pictures in b/w, 300 pages.

TECNICA, SECRETOS e HISTORIA. RELEVOS 4X100 Basilio Fuentes (ATFS) y Lázaro Betancourt

 For men and women, criterium for training, more common mistakes. statistical data 1926-2003, athletes and some indexes, All Time National lists. A Chapter for the final in World Champs in Tokio/91, a scientific analysis. In Index, champions in the most important competitions. 155 pages, pictures in b/w.

ATLETISMO CUBANO, BREVE HISTORIA Y SINTESIS BIOGRAFICA 1886-2005 Basilio Fuentes (ATFS)

 Cuban athletes that has broken World records, seniors and juniors, the most important results in Cuba/s history, milestones and analysis for different dates, in alfabhetical order by surname, ersonal dta of the best 81 athletes of XX century: best annual results in events that they has competed, records and international results in 13 competitions. 182 pages in Spanish and pictures in the cover/

ATLETISMO CUBANO. MAS DE UN SIGLO DE ACTUACIONES  1886-2005 Basilio Fuentes (ATFS)

 Cuban athletes that has broken World records, seniors and juniors, the most important results in Cuba/s history, milestones and analysis for different dates, in cronological order Cuban athletes that has broken or tied world records, best results and champions in Olympics, World champions outdoor and indoor, World Cup, Central American and Caribbean and Panamerican Games. Index of champions in those competitions and personal data of all athletes  included in the book, 197 pages and pictures in b/w

Israeli Athletics Annual 2008/09. 240 x 170mm, 54pp. By David Eiger. Records, championship results, 2008 top 20s and all-time lists, with profiles of leading Israeli athletes. 7 euro or US $10 from David Eiger, 10 Ezra Hozsofer Str, Herzliya 46 371, Israel. Past editions (from 1986) are available at a reduced price,

Beste Zeiten – Die Gazelle mit dem Löwenherzen by Dr. Christoph Josten. 220mm x 170mm, 304pp. Kim Gevaert retired, to rapturous applause, at the van Damme meeting last year. This book, in German, sets the scene of women’s sprinting and details the remark-able career of the ‘Gazelle of Kampenhout’, who sealed her champion-ships career by anchoring the Belgian team to sprint relay silver at the Beijing Olympics. She was Belgium’s first-ever European women’s champion, winning three successive indoor 60m titles as well as the outdoor 100m/200m double at Gothenburg 2006. Illustrated in colour, there are full results of all her important races. The appendices include a list of her 59 Belgian records. 24 euros from Books on Demand GmbH., Norderstedt or contact author at josmos@T-Online.de.

El Atletismo Español en los Juegos Olímpicos by José Javier Etayo, José María García, José Luis Hernández and Miguel Villaseñor. A5 80pp. Complete details and analyses of Spanish athletes at the Olympic Games including 2008. Given Spain’s current place amongst the top European nations athletics, it is fascinating to see that Spain have competed in athletics at all Olympic Games from 1960 but at only four before that: 1920-24-28 and 1948. The index gives the particulars of all 233 men and 78 women and Spain has won 11 medals (2 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze) and had had 63 finalists. Two athletes have competed at five Games: Carlos Sala and Jesús Ángel García. 15 euros from the Federación Española de Atletismo (RFEA), Avda. Valladolid 81 - 1º - 28.008 Madrid SPAIN. Email: publicaciones@rfea.es.

Atletica by Roberto L Quercetani. This is an updated edition (in Italian) of the monumental and authoritative history of world athletics since 1860 which was published (in English) in 2000. Roberto, now 86, has added chapters covering the years 2001-2007 and the 448 page book, which includes a statistical section, is illustrated by nearly 300 black and white photos. There are no plans at present for a new English language edition. The price is 39 euros plus shipping costs; all orders or enquiries to the publisher, Roberto Vallardi, Editvallardi, via Roma 74, 20060 Cassina de Pecchi (MI), Italy; email: roberto.vallardi@editvallardi.com

ATHLETICS 2008 edited by Peter Matthews. Obtainable from the publishers, SportsBooks Ltd, 1 Evelyn Court, Cheltenham GL50 2JP, UK; £18.95 post free in UK; add £3 postage for Europe & £5 for rest of world. See announcement on page 15 of AI-9 for further details.

Where would we be without the ATFS Annual? My indefatigable colleague Peter Matthews edits this monumental work each year (this is his 24th edition), an immense job, and as always he has produced a wonderfully comprehensive statistical and textual review of the year in question plus all-time lists and many other items. The 608 pages include 150-200 deep lists for 2007, a huge index and biographical profiles of 784 of the world's current leading athletes. Articles in this edition feature a re-evaluation of the career of the legendary but mysterious Sin Kim Dan by Bob Phillips, IAAF rule changes by Bob Hersh and AIMS' silver jubilee by Hugh Jones. Interesting to note among the USA biographies how many of their top athletes were born elsewhere: Ron Bramlett in Germany, Kerron Clement in Trinidad, Meb Keflezighi in Eritrea, Khalid Khannouchi in Morocco, Bernard Lagat in Kenya and Sanya Richards in Jamaica.Other fascinating American trivia: Christian Cantwell has thrown the discus 59.32 and the hammer 57.18 while Reese Hoffa has recorded 58.46 and 60.05; Xavier Carter was the youngest ever to break 50 sec for 400m with 49.71 at age 13; triple jumper Walter Davis has run 10.44w for 100m while Brian Johnson has 10.24 speed; marathon star Ryan Hall ran 800m in 1:51.07 as a junior; Allen Johnson was once a 2.11 high jumper and 8.14 long jumper; David Oliver's mother, Brenda Chambers, was also a hurdler (58.54 400mH); the father of Tom Pappas once held a world motor speed record; Wallace Spearmon's father had sprint marks of 10.19/10.05w and 20.27/20.20w; the mother of Lashinda Demus, Yolanda Rich, was a 52.19 400m performer; Allyson Felix's brother Wes is a 10.23/20.43 sprinter; Cheryl Bridges, Shalane Flanagan's mother, set a marathon world best of 2:49:40 in 1971; Natasha Hastings' British mother, Joanne Gardner, was the WAAA under-15 100m champion in 1977 and had a pb of 11.89; and Grace Upshaw's father, Monte, set a US high school long jump record of 7.72 in 1954, the second best in the world that year.

Latvijas Vieglatletikas Gadagramata 2009. A5 368 pp. Comprehensive coverage of Latvian athletics for 2008, including records, all-time lists, results and bio-graphies, compiled by Andris Stagis. From the Latvian Athletic Association, Augsiela 1, Riga LV-1009, Latvia.

Yleisurheilu 2008. A5 672pp. The splendid Finnish Yearbook, published by Suomen Urheilulitto (Finnish Athletics) and compiled by Juhani and Mirko Jalava, contains not only every conceivable statistic for Finnish athletics (with results and deep year lists) in 2008 but also world indoor, outdoor and junior lists for the year as at November. 17 euros plus postage and packaging.

Orders by e-mail to juhani@tilastopaja.fi

Anuario Athlético Español Ranking 2007/2008. At 968 pages this is again the largest national annual ever. It has everything about Spanish athletics with immense depth of results and annual lists for 2008 as well as records, all-time lists, details of all Spanish champions, lists of Spanish international matches, biographies of current stars and details of Spanish participation at major events. Also colour photographs. Great value at 25 euros from the Federación Española de Atletismo (RFEA), Avda. Valladolid 81 - 1º - 28.008 Madrid SPAIN. Email: publicaciones@rfea.es.

“Dream to Reality: The Ray Roseman Story, by David Cocksedge. British athletics fans of a certain age will carry affectionate memories of Ray Roseman, the tall, thin South London Harrier (later of Brighton & Hove AC) who enlivened many a mile race with his uninhibited running – on one occasion zipping through a 54.8 third quarter. His dream was to break four minutes but for year after year he fell frustratingly short of that goal. Britain's third fastest miler of 1963 at 4:01.6, he clocked 4:00.2 and 4:01.4 in 1965, 4:02.2 twice in 1966, 4:02.3 twice in 19067, 4:00.7, 4:00.8 and 4:00.9 in 1968, and 4:01.0 in June 1969. At last, in July 1969, he made it with 3:59.8, ranking him no 20 in the world that year and becoming, incidentally, the first Jewish runner to break through that barrier.

This well illustrated 98 page booklet, documenting Roseman's track career, has been written by my old “Athletics Weekly” colleague David Cocksedge (assistant editor 1969-1973) who, like Roseman, now lives in Thailand. Roseman, whose grandparents fled from Russia to Britain at the start of the last century, became a British international but missed out on Olympic selec-tion in 1964 and 1968 although he did attend the 1948 Games as a nine year-old. Another special occasion was when, at 14, he sat on the infield at Motspur Park during the Surrey Schools Championships while Roger Bannister came so close to the world mile record with an illegally paced 4:02.0. It would be on that famous cinder track, the scene of Sydney Wooderson's pre-war 800m, 880y and mile world records, that Roseman would run his dream mile 16 years later.

Collecting Books on Athletics and the Olympic Games, by Richard Bond. This is a mammoth hardback work of over 700 pages and limited to 100 copies. The author is a 61 year-old retired lawyer, a member of the NUTS and ATFS, who has been collecting athletics books since 1960 and his affection for and knowledge of all types of athletics and Olympic literature is apparent on every page of this labour of love. It's a prodigious work of scholarship, marred only by several mis-spelt names, and the range of books listed and analysed is breathtaking. As he explains: “This work is a bibliography and guide to books published in the UK and the Republic of Ireland with virtually any reference to athletics and/or the Olympic Games to the end of the year 2004”

The main section lists more than 3700 publications, starting with The Venerable Bede's Life and Miracles of St Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, written in AD 721 and which refers to “in jumping, running, wrestling or any other bodily exercise, he boasted that he could surpass all those who were of the same age, and even some who were older than himself.” Homer's Iliad, translated into English by Alexander Pope from 1715, contains references to Achilles pursuing Hector around the walls of Troy and that prizes for foot races were common.

Typical of the fascinating historical information provided by the author is that largely overlooked in Sir Montague Shearman's classic work, Athletics and Football (first published in 1887) is a footnote referring to his taking part in 100 yard hurdles races at Eton as early as 1837 and that steeplechasing began at that public school in 1845. Coming to more modern times, Bond's review of a 1983 biography of Alan Turing mentions that the brilliant mathematician considered to be the father of the modern computer was also fifth in the 1947 AAA marathon in 2:46:03, but a hip injury put paid to his chances of being selected for the Olympics the following year.

It should be noted that for a more complete listing of all UK-published works the reader would need to have a copy also of An Athletics Compendium, compiled by Tom McNab, Peter Lovesey and Andrew Huxtable and published by The British Library in 2001. Bond explains in his introduction: “Books referred to in the Compendium are not included unless further information is known which I have felt would be of interest to the reader, where I felt there was a need for a review, where I have referred to any such book in other entries, or where previously unknown further editions of a work have been traced. It is felt that almost anyone who buys this book will almost certainly have a copy of the Compendium.” There is also a section devoted to books published outside of the British Isles.

The book is obtainable only from the author at 12 Lytham Close, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancs OL6 9ER, UK (e-mail: richard.bond@jlservices.co.uk). The price is £41.50 (£35 + £6.50 postage) within the UK; cheque payable to Richard Bond. Potential buyers living outside the UK should contact him about the price including postage.

Stan's Second Little Blue Book, compiled by Stan Greenberg. Four years after Stan's Little Blue Book comes this sequel – not a collection of Max Miller's jokes but a bright and breezy updated miscellany of athletics statistics and curiosities. Trivia buffs will love it, for where else would you learn (or care?) that Sunday is the only day of the week on which no man has ever run sub-44 for 400m, or that (under the title “would that I could”) the furthest a mobile phone has been thrown is 94.97m! More mainstream stats include breakdowns of the “perfect” decathlon and heptathlon scores, adding up their individual pbs, for Dan O'Brien (9572 ahead of Roman Sebrle 9318 and Bryan Clay 9317) and JJK (7654 with Carolina Klüft a distant second best with 7223). This 48-page booklet is available from Stan Greenberg, 13 Ferncroft Avenue, London N12 0LN; price (postage included; send cash only) £3 in UK, 5 euros in Europe, $6 in USA and elsewhere.

Combined Events Annual 2008 by Hans van Kuijen. Available in early January. 216 pages. Annual includes top 200 men's decathlon and women's heptathlon lists for 2008 and all scores over 7500 and 5600 respectively with all-time world lists, national and international records, junior rankings, who's who etc. Obtainable from the author at: de Bergen 66, 5706 RZ Helmond, Netherlands. Price in Europe: (cash) 27.50 Euros or £25; (cheques) £35; outside Europe: (cash) $50; (cheques) $70.

Weltrekorde und Weltrekordlerinnen. Manfred Holzhausen continues his series of splendidly detailed surveys (text in German, but masses of statistics) of world records and world record holders. There are results of all WR races with detailed career profiles (and illustrations) of record breakers, tables of annual world bests and results of races at major championships. These are highly recommended and follow 12 books covering men’s world records and one on women’s sprints.

The two latest booklets (A4 size) are:

1. Women’s 400m/440y - 800m/880y (158 pages, all inclusive price 15 euros).

2. Women’s 1000m, 1500m, 1 Mile, 3000m (124 pages, all inclusive price 14 euros).

From: Manfred Holzhausen, Dresdener Str. 4, 41516 Grevenbroich, Germany.

e-mail: Manfred.Holzhausen@gmx.de

AEEA Bulletin No. 82 – November 2008 (210 pages). The main feature of the latest publication of the Spanish statisticians’ group is lists of top ten athletes for the top 20 nations, ranking the nations by the average of the best marks, at each standard event in 2007. There are also Spanish indoor all-time top ten performances and performer lists for all events, and progressive World, European and Spanish bests for women over 35.

Membership of the AEEA (four bulletins per year) is 55 euros per year (61 euros outside Europe) from AEEA secretary Ignacio Mansilla, C/Encinar del Rey, 18 - 28450 Collado Mediano, Madrid, Spain. email: ranking@rfea.es.

Latest Track Stats

Athletics in Britain during the Second World War is a topic which takes up half of the latest issue (November) of “Track Stats”, the NUTS quarterly magazine. Editor Bob Phillips provides the main narrative and there are numerous references to Sydney Wooderson – who, in the words of David Thurlow – “would think nothing of travelling overnight and back to Glasgow in a packed train, standing in the corridor both ways in the blackout, just to run and draw in the crowds and raise morale and money for the war effort.” There was a surprising amount of competition available during those dark years. Wooderson took part in 20 races between May and August 1940 including a Scottish all-comers mile record of 4:11.0. In 1943, before a crowd of 25,000 at an Allied Forces' meeting in aid of the Red Cross at the White City, he ran 4:11.8, having clocked 4:11.5 a few weeks earlier. His last big race during the war was a 4:12.8 victory in the “Stalin Mile” in Manchester, part of an “Aid for Russia Fund” meeting, in June 1944. A bout of rheumatic fever brought his season to a premature close ... although, astonishingly, he would set a British record of 4:04.2 in Sweden in Sep 1945.

Sadly, among those who died during hostilities were 18 international athletes including 1934 Empire Games discus silver medallist Douglas Bell (died of wounds while serving in RAF, aged 35), 1924 Olympic 400m champion Eric Liddell (died in Japanese captivity in China, aged 43), Denis Pell – Britain's second fastest ever at 1500m with 3:50.2 in 1939 (killed in an RAF flying accident, aged 26), 1934 Empire Games 100 & 220y champion Arthur Sweeney (died in an RAF flying accident, aged 31) and 1936 Olympic 110H fifth placer John Thornton (killed in Normandy landings, aged 33). Other features include a look back to British women's athletics in 1958, a review of Arthur Keily's road racing career and an appreciation of Godfrey Rampling whose 100th birthday is due on May 14 next year.

Annual subscription (4 issues) is £20 in UK, cheque payable to NUTS. Contact Liz Sissons, 8 Fairoak Lane, Chessington KT9 2NS, UK or e-mail her at lizsissons@blueyonder.co.uk for foreign rates.

Legendary Runner: A Biography of Paavo Nurmi by Paavo Karikko and Mauno Koski. This 179 page hardback, with a foreword by Lasse Virén, is the first biography of the great Finnish runner to have been published in English and documents in illuminating detail his life on and off the track. Statisticians will particularly appreciate the complete record of his races, starting with a win in Turku on 1 June 1914 in an under-18 3000m (10:06.9 aged 16) and ending with a 10,000m victory in 31:39.2 at Viipuri on 16 Sep 1934 (aged 37). Along the way he collected nine gold and three silver medals at the Olympics and set 29 outdoor world records or bests as well as even more indoors during his American tours of 1925 and 1929. The publisher is The Sports Museum Foundation of Finland, Olympic Stadium, FI-00250 Helsinki, from whom the book can be ordered (price 27 euros), or by email: urheilumuseo@stadion.fi

Historia Finalów Lekkoatletycznych Mistrzostw Polski 1920-2007 by Henryk Kurzynski, Stefan Piet-kiewicz, Janusz Rozum and Tadeusz Wolejko. 240 x 150m 430 pages. Top eight finishers in all Polish Championships outdoors and cross-country for men with an index of all those included (4311 athletes) plus analyses of top competitors for each event. Price 20 euros (including postage) from Janusz Rozum, Angorska 14/23, 03-913 Warsaw, Poland or by e-mail: jrozum@poczta.onet.pl

World Athletics Series 2004-2007. A5 529pp. Price 20 euros. Maintaining the documentation of IAAF events, Mark Butler has edited a further volume (to those published from 1989) giving complete results of events for the past four years. So this book includes results of 25 major events, including all World Championships in this period as well as World Athletics Finals, World Cup and World Race Walking Cups.Contact the IAAF (or see www.iaaf.org) for their extensive list of publications and videos for sale at 17 rue Princesse Florestine, BP 359, MC 98007, Monaco.

NEW JUNIOR HISTORICAL WEBSITE

Lionel Peters informs us that all readers are welcome to visit his new website www.wjah.co.uk which features comprehensive information relating to junior and youth championships. He writes: “For some time now I have been trying to work out how to make available much of the junior history data I have collected over the years. With this in mind, Tom Magnusson and I have been working on a website to provide the most complete possible results for juniors and youths at all world, continental and regional championships for track and field, walks, cross country and road running. The aim is to have complete results permanently available with dates of birth, all throws and jumps, wind readings etc. I would appreciate any corrections, additions etc at lionel@wjan.org or (Tom Magnusson) tomtytom@bluewin.ch.”

The Spanish group, the AEEA continues to produce magnificent statistical publications. Membership of the AEEA (four bulletins per year) is 55 euros per year (61 euros outside Europe) from AEEA secretary Ignacio Mansilla, C/Encinar del Rey, 18 - 28450 Collado Mediano, Madrid, Spain. email: ranking@rfea.es.Their Bulletin No. 81 – June 2008 is of 306 pages, with two main compilations: 1. Top tens for each event for each of the top 50 nations for men and 30 for women on the average of those performances. 2. Evolution of the best marks ever made at major international championships. These lists, are, of course, dominated by the Olympic Games, but there are also plenty of marks in recent years from World Championships as well as from continental championships and World University Games etc.

Athens to Beijing – The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC 1894-2008. 280x230mm. 592pp. David Miller, who has covered 16 Summer and Winter Olympic Games as a journalist, was commissioned by the IOC to write their history for 2004 and here he has updated his great work. He alternates chapters on the evolution of the IOC with descriptions of each Games and each of these begins with a personal reminiscence by a leading figure. The major stories on Olympic history are well known, but all are covered here by an expert who had produced an outstanding book. The appendices include lists of all medal winners and medal tables for each Games. Published by Mainstream Publishing, 7 Albany Street, Edinburgh EH1 3UG. www.mainstreampublishing.com at £35.

Scottish Athletics Yearbook 2008. A5 296p. Edited by Arnold Black for the SATS and fully maintaining the excellent standards of past issues. Comprehensive review of Scottish athletics in 2007 with articles, deep Scottish lists for all age groups, event reviews and championship results, all-time lists and records and a 4-page section of colour photographs. Scottish athlete of the year for 2007 was steeplechaser Andrew Lemoncello. The price has been held (for the fifth year in a row) at the remarkable value of £6 (£7.50 inc. postage in the UK, £9 elsewhere), sterling cheques only, payable to S.A.T.S. From Arnold Black, 19 Millbrae Crescent, Langside, Glasgow G42 9UW, UK

2008 USA Track & Field Media Guide & FAST Annual (general editors: Jill Geer & Scott Davis). A5 698pp. The first 268 pages comprise the USATF Media Guide with detailed profiles on top athletes and lists of all US champions from 1990 and for the 14th year this is a cooperative venture as it is followed by the 30th edition of the FAST Annual. This has 50-deep US lists for 2007 and all-time, with 12-deep junior and college all-time lists. The massive final index section includes annual progressions and championships details for top US athletes. $32 airmail from Scott Davis, 4432 Snowbird Circle, Cerritos, CA 90703, USA.

Asian Athletics 2007 rankings. A5 96 pp. Heinrich Hubbeling continues his magnificent annual job of compiling Asian statistics. This booklet has top 30s for 2007 for athletes from Asian nations, with continuation lists for countries other than China and Japan, indicating new national records, and full lists of Asian records. Euro 15/US $20 in cash or by International Money Order from the author, Haydnstrasse 8, 48691 Vreden, Germany. Copies also available for 1998, 2004-06 at Euro 10 or US $13 each.

Annuario 2007/2008 – Pista Cubierta y Campo a Través. A5 472pp. Comprehensive details for the Spanish cross country and indoor seasons with lists and results, all-time lists, lists of previous champions and colour photographs. 14 euros plus postage (€3.75 in Spain, €12 elsewhere) from Federación Española de Atletismo (RFEA), Avda. Valladolid 81 - 1º - 28.008 Madrid SPAIN. E-mail: publicaciones@rfea.es.

Historia Polskiej Kobiecej Lekkoatletyki w Okresie Miedzywojennym by Henryk Kurzynski, Maciej Rychwalski, Andrzej Socha and Tadeusz Wolejko. A5 442 pages. This is a marvellously detailed survey of Polish athletics from 1922 to 1939. There are ten-deep annual lists for all events, progressive annual records, deep all-time lists as at 1 Sep 1939 (the start of World War II), international match details and statistical profiles of hundreds of top athletes. 25 euros (inc. postage) from Janusz Rozum, 03-913 Angorska 14.23, Warsaw, Poland, <jrozum@poczta.onet.pl>

L’Athlétisme Africain/African Athletics 2008. A5, 152p. By Yves Pinaud. The 27th edition of this splendid annual has 100 deep men’s and women’s lists for Africa for 2007, with all-time lists, national championships and major meetings results. 20 euro, £15 or US $30 from Polymédias, 46 rue des Bordeaux, 94220 Charenton-le-pont, France. (also available is booklist with very extensive list of athletics books and magazines for sale).

Athlérama 2007. A5, 608pp. The French Annual, edited by Patricia Doilin with a strong team of compilers, is again a superb reference book. Packed with information on French athletics – deep year lists for 2007, indexes, athlete profiles, results and all-time lists for all age groups. Extras include French top ten lists for 1907 and 1957. Also many colour photos. 25 euros from the FFA, 33 avenue Pierre de Coubertin, 75640 Paris CEDEX 13, France. Patricia.Doilin@athle.org

South African Athletics Annual 2008. A5 220 pp. Edited by Riël Hauman. The 56th edition includes 2007 and all-time lists, records and results. SA athletes of the year were Mbulaeni Mulaudzi and Karin Mey. Also included is the South African Athletics Hall of Fame that lists all the nation’s medallists at major games and championships. From SA Athletics Annual, PO Box 26068, Monument Park 0105, South Africa at 70 SA Rand by surface mail or 120 Rand by airmail. No cheques. email gler@mweb.co.za

From Tiny Acorns Giant Oaks Will Grow: The History of Woodford Green AC 1908-2008. By Tony Maxwell. Price £25 (cheque payable to the author; add postage for outside UK) from Tony Maxwell, 27 Forest Edge, Buckhurst Hill IG9 5AD; email: tonymaxwell27@hotmail.com

Kevin Kelly’s monumental history of Herne Hill Harriers – over 600 pages and 800 photos – set an awesome standard for club historians, but Tony Maxwell – a 4:07.2 miler in 1967 who has been a member for 51 years – has produced an even more gigantic work (over 800 pages and 750 photos) devoted to his beloved Woodford Green AC which celebrated its centenary this year. The club has long been one of Britain’s strongest, and all the more so since it joined up with the equally prestigious Essex Ladies in 1998, and its history – so well documented here – is a fascinating one. Among the thousands of names who contributed to the club’s success are several British internationals. Pre-eminent among them was Derek Johnson, who failed so narrowly to become Olympic 800m champion in 1956 and whose range of high quality personal bests (from 10.0 for 100y to 3:42.9 for 1500m and 9:15.0 for 2M plus a 9:16.8 steeplechase and 53.7 440y hurdles) remains unchallenged by any British athlete. Other distinguished members have included 1909/1910 International cross country champion Eddie Wood, world record breaking walkers Bert Cooper, Alf Pope and Hew Neilson, Harry Payne (the British marathon record holder before Jim Peters), Commonwealth Games pole vault and high jump champions Geoff Elliott and Dalton Grant, UK record holders Gerry Carr (discus) and Martin Girvan (hammer), and world relay record sprinters David Jones and Ron Jones.

British Athletics 1951-1959 by Michael Sheridan. Obtainable from him at 27 Yew Tree Park, Congresbury, Somerset BS49 5ER; £15.50 (UK) or 25 Euros or $30; payment by cheque drawn on a British bank payable to Michael Sheridan or by cash or PayPal.

Michael Sheridan has already made a massive contri-bution to the documentation of British athletics with his books covering 1946-9 and 1950, and here in 205 profusely illustrated A4 pages he tells the story of the rest of the 1950s. Subtitled “Sunset of the golden years”, the book contains not just enough statistics and lists to gladden the heart of any seriously afflicted tracknut but also profiles many of the top stars of the period and lovingly recreates the atmosphere of that decade.Superbly researched and written with great affection for an era treasured by those of a certain age (the author was 15 when the fifties came to an end), here you can revel in the reminiscences of Mike Blagrove, Ken Norris, Jill Lindsay, Peter Hildreth, John Parlett and others, and read profiles of such iconic figures as McDonald Bailey, Chris Chataway, Derek Ibbotson, Gordon Pirie, Arthur Rowe, Diane Leather, Dorothy Tyler and so many more. Officials, coaches and writers are not left out either as Harold Abrahams, Jack Crump, Marea Hartman, Vera Searle, Geoff Dyson, Jimmy Green and the McWhirter twins are among those featured. This classic work ends with a 38-page index of athletes appearing in the yearly top ten lists with date of birth, club and performance. Just ten athletes made the top ten every year 1951-9: George Broad (PV), John Disley (3000SC), Geoff Elliott (PV), Peter Hildreth (120yH), Mark Pharaoh (DT), Gordon Pirie (1500/mile, 2M, 3M/5000), Heather Young (100y), Suzanne Allday (SP/DT), Sylvia Needham (DT) and Anne Oliver (mile). Ah, what memories!

The Marathon Makers by John Bryant. Published by John Blake Publishing Ltd, 3 Bramber Court, 2 Bramber Road, London W14 9PB (www.blake.co.uk); £14.99.

As Sebastian Coe writes in a foreword, “Bryant’s book vividly recreates one of the most dramatic days and events in sport – the 1908 Olympic Games Marathon in London, an epic contest which, along with the intense rivalries, idealism, controversies and spectacle of the Games shaped the evolution of modern sporting culture. The book follows the fates of legendary runners Dorando Pietri from Italy and American Johnny Hayes, who took the emerging sport of competitive distance running to the extremes of human endurance, and so helped the marathon distance establish itself for ever in the popular imagination.”Reading much like a novel, the 331-page book traces the background, character and achievements of the two protagonists, along with Britain’s 1908 Olympic 400m champion Wyndham Halswelle, and explains what happened to them in later life. Unhappily, there was very little of a later life for Captain Halswelle, who was killed by a German sniper in France in 1915, aged 32. Dorando died of a heart attack at 56 in 1942, while Hayes lived on to 1965, aged 79. The author, a former deputy editor of The Times and editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph, is himself a marathon runner with a best of 2:21:59 in 1973.

British Athletics 2008. A5 432 pages. The 50th NUTS Annual, edited by Rob Whittingham, Peter Matthews, Tony Miller and Justin Clouder. Deep UK ranking lists for all age groups in 2007, top 12 merit rankings, all-time lists, results etc. £18 UK, £20 rest of Europe, £22 outside Europe; from Umbra Athletics Ltd, Unit 1, Bredbury Business Park, Bredbury Park Way, Stockport, SK6 2SN, England. All orders by credit card to:

www.umbraathletics.com worldwide post-free for £18.

European Athletics Yearbook 2007-08. A5 543pp. From the European Athletic Association, Avenue Louis-Ruchonnet 18, CH-1003 Lausanne, Switzerland (25 euro in Europe, 30 euro elsewhere) – see www.European-athletics.org. The book includes reviews and reuslts of EAA meetings in 2007 plus 100-deep European lists for 2007 (and U23, junior, indoor and 50-deep all-time lists) compiled by Mirko Jalava and a wealth of other useful information.

La Mémoire du sport has issued a new list of Annuals for all sports that are available. Write for this or for catalogues on all the books and magazines that they have for sale at La mémoire du sport, 46 rue des Bordeaux, 94220 Charenton-le-pont, France or see details at the website www.polymedias.fr. One notes that they have copies of the ATFS/International Athletics Annual available for all years from 1986 to 2007 (at prices varying between 22 and 32 euros) and also some scarce copies for earlier years. The 1952 Annual is priced at 60 euros and then the two most expensive: 1954 at 150 euros and the 1956 at 115 euros, with 1959 at 85 euros and various annuals 1960-7 at 50-60 euros.

The 1908 Olympics - The First London Games by Keith Baker. £7.99 post free (UK) + £3 postage for rest of Europe or £5 for rest of world; available from the publishers, SportsBooks Ltd, 1 Evelyn Court, Malvern Road, Cheltenham GL50 2JR, UK (website: www.sportsbooks.ltd.uk)

Published to commemorate the centenary of the first London Olympics, Keith Baker’s 180-page paperback reminds us that the 1908 Games had been awarded by the IOC to Rome but the damage and devastation caused by the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 1906 led to the Italians withdrawing for financial reasons. As Baker writes: “The British responded to the enormous chall-enge with widely-praised drive and efficiency. With barely two years’ notice and with limited resources, the organisers managed to stage the best-organised Games and the largest and most representative gathering of athletes ever before seen.”However, the Games also went down as one of the most controversial and dramatic in Olympic history. The athlete most people associate with these Games is the luckless marathoner Dorando Pietri and there is a chapter devoted to him and the largely overlooked winner, Johnny Hayes. There is plenty of detail also about the often bitter squabbles between the British and American teams, which came to the boil in the US-boycotted 400m. Altogether an intriguing glimpse of the Olympic scene of a century ago.The publication is a sister book to Bob Phillips’ superbly researched hardback “The 1948 Olympics – How London Rescued The Games” (see AI-24 of 2007) by the same publisher, price £16.99 + postage.

Scottie By Norman Harris. Last Side Publishing Ltd. Norman Harris makes a belated return to athletics writing (previous books include The Legend of Lovelock and The Lonely Breed) with the story of Neville Scott, the New Zealander who was seventh in the 1956 Olympic 1500 metres. From that high point his life descended into alcoholism and self-destruction, although he won a Commonwealth bronze medal at 3 miles in 1958. This is the story of his reconstruction.NZ and Australian readers should contact:www.scottiethebook.com. The rest of the world can buy it for £10 from www.sportsbooks.ltd.uk

LATEST TRACK STATS

There is the usual stimulating mix of historical and statistical material in the latest (March) issue of “Track Stats”, the NUTS’ quarterly magazine. Features include a complete breakdown of all 40 of Roman Sebrle’s 8000 pt-plus decathlons, six of them in excess of 8800 pts and topped by his world record 9026. If he had ever been able to reproduce his best individual mark from any of those 40 contests he would have reeled off this series: 100- 10.64, LJ- 8.11, SP- 16.47, HJ- 2.15, 400- 47.76, 110H- 13.87, DT- 49.12, PV- 5.10, JT- 71.18, 1500- 4:21.98. That little lot would have given him a first day score of 4776 and a total of 9265! Among several wallows in nostalgia is an article by editor Bob Phillips on the great 400m race at the 1941 US (AAU) Champs in which Grover Klemmer equalled Rudolf Harbig’s world record of 46.0, hotly pursued by Hubie Kerns and Cliff Bourland (both 46.1).

Annual subscription (4 issues) is £17 UK, £21 Europe, £26 elsewhere; contact Liz Sissons, 8 Fairoak Lane, Chessington KT9 2NS (lizsissons@blueyonder.co.uk)

Pole Vault: A Statistical Survey of British Jumping by Ian Tempest. A5 76 pages.

This is the 12th in the NUTS’ historical series of book-lets, the sixth by the industrious Ian Tempest, and it certainly maintains the high standard of this ongoing project to cover all the disciplines. As Ian writes in his introduction: “Like so many other events the pole vault has a very long history in world athletics, with Britain once again having a pioneering role in estab-lishing, in the 19th century, top international standards – though with entirely different equipment and technique to those employed today.”The first recorded mark (3.15) dates back to 1849 and the author documents the event’s evolution in text and figures. Of particular fascination is the period in the 1880s when the leading performers, drawn from the Lake District, were pole climbers. Tom Ray, for many years the best of them all, was described: “He scrambled up a dozen feet of his pole beautifully, poised himself on the top and then dropped down the other side of the bar.” But, as Ian points out, pole climbing was no easy option and required exceptional co-ordination and strength.” British vaulting early in the 20th century was of a very low standard and pole climber Robert Dickinson’s 3.58 in 1891 (a world best at the time) was not surpassed as the UK record until Laurence Bond, using a conventional technique, cleared 3.61 in 1928. Richard Webster was the first to reach 4m, clearing that height to tie for 6th place at the 1936 Olympics (which remains the British highwater mark in terms of global competition), and Mike Bull (in the fibre glass era) was the pioneer 5m performer in 1968.The booklet, which covers also the short history of women’s vaulting, lists progressive UK records, UK all-time performers (to 4.42 and 3.13 for women) and performances (5.30/3.90), championship placings, annual progressions and numerous biographies. Essential reading and reference for any pole vaulting fan, it costs £5 in UK or 10 euros; from Dave Terry, 34 Windmill Hill, Ruislip HA4 8PX.