The must-have guide to the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

Next summer, millions of Americans will tune into the Olympic Games, the largest and most popular sporting event in the world. Yet while it''s easy to be fascinated by agile gymnasts, poised equestrians, and perfectly synchronized swimmers, few of us know the real width of a balance beam, the intricate regulations of dressage, or the origin of those crowd-pleasing legs-in-the-air swimming formations. Luckily, David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton have created this utterly thorough and always fun guide to the rules, strategy, and history of each sport. With witty, detailed descriptions and clever illustrations, How to Watch the Olympics will help anyone grasp handball, archery, wrestling, fencing, and every other Olympic event like a true pro.

David Goldblatt is the author of The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer, as well as a regular sports columnist and commentator for BBC Radio.

Johnny Acton is a writer specializing in obscure nuggets of information-ranging from pickling food (Preserved ) to the history of balloons (The Man Who Touched the Sky).