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The London Marathon

Sport & life

A wide ranging view of sport and the social issues raised by it.

Night time in London

Parliament & law

Explore the Olympics through the voices of parliament, legal writing and socio-legal research.

School sportsday race

Education

An examination of teaching and learning within the formal educational environment.

A rally

Politics & protest

Why do national governments and governing bodies place such importance on hosting events and what do they hope to gain from them?

Canary Wharf at night [85KB]

Business & economics

A look at the evidence around the economic impact of hosting the Olympics and the opportunities the Olympics create for business.

online resources[11KB]

Teaching resources

As London 2012 approaches there will be an increasing number of Olympics and Paralympics-related teaching resources available online. We focus on some of these useful and fascinating websites.

More teaching

detail of 1916 Olympic stamp[10KB]

A Historian in trainers

Dr Martin Polley describes his research into the Cotswold Olimpicks and the Much Wenlock Olympian Games and looks at the local factors which influenced these festivals. He also dares to give it a try as a competitor!

More history

Friendly rivals: Owens and Long,1936[10KB]

Berlin 1936

Susan Reed, the British Library’s lead curator for German studies, writes about two recently acquired titles which were published in Germany on the occasion of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

More history

Contribute to the Library

Calling all publishers! We need your London 2012 publications - printed and electronic - for the researchers of the future. Learn about what the British Library, and other libraries and archives are doing to collect the Olympic Games published legacy, and how you can help.

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Social sciences at the British Library

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