Great Athletes (13-Vol Set)

The Editors of Salem Press and Special Consultant: Rafer Johnson

September 2009

Tags: 13 Volumes 5036 Pages 1470 Essays 1470 Photos 2600 Tables and Sidebars Athlete Name Index Athlete Position Index 60 Appendixes Country Index Sport and Team Index

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The largest and most comprehensive collection of sports biographies published in a single reference work - organized so libraries can select only the sports they want. Plus complimentary online access to the full content of this great reference set is available.

Hank Aaron, Lance Armstrong, Billie Jean King, Walter Payton, Joe Montana…these figures and more have long been a source of fascination for us. Now, Salem Press has compiled one of the biggest, most comprehensive works on the subject. Twelve volumes (plus index), 1,470 biographical essays, and all the complete, easy-to-read content users have come to expect from Salem Press. Plus, all the articles are divided into seven subsets, each alphabetically arranged, so libraries have the choice of purchasing the entire set, or the volumes in which they are most interested. And, a one-volume cumulative index is free with any purchase.

Scope & Coverage
Virtually every athlete and every sport readers might reasonably expect to find can be found here. Although there is an emphasis on sports that are popular in North America, there is considerable coverage on sports and athletes from other parts of the world. Most North Americans have at least some familiarity with such sports as baseball, basketball, football, golf, ice hockey, and tennis. They are likely to have had less exposure to badminton, cycling, and soccer and even less exposure to sports such as cricket, fencing, and Tae Kwon Do. No matter what the sport, however, readers of Great Athletes will learn that outstanding athletes from all parts of the world and all cultures have in common histories of hard work, rigid discipline, goal setting, and sacrifice-points that Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson discusses in his Introduction to this set.

Organization & Format
Averaging three to four pages in length, articles are written in clear language and presented in a uniform, easily readable format. Each article is divided into four sections that cover the athlete's life and achievements chronologically. "Early Life" covers the athlete's family background, early education, introduction to sports, and other formative experiences.

"The Road to Excellence" discusses the athlete's first serious involvement in sports and the experiences and influences that propelled the athlete toward greatness.
"The Emerging Champion" section follows the athlete from the threshold of stardom to higher levels.
"Continuing the Story" tracks the athlete's subsequent athletic career and later life.
"Summary" recapitulates the athlete's achievements and legacy. A photograph of the athlete accompanies each essay, and every article is accompanied by at least one table, shadowed for easy reference. With their content varying greatly among different sports, these tables summarize the career statistics, honors and awards, records, and other milestones that set each great athlete apart.

Special Features
Each subset has its own indexes and appendixes, and a separate volume, free with purchase of any Great Athletes title, will contain indexes and appendixes pertaining to all the other volumes. In addition to the standard indexes, several subsets on team sports will have indexes listing athletes by their college and professional teams and their positions.