THE OFFICIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SPORTS.

By John Lowell Pratt '29 andJim Benagh. New York: Franklin Watts,Inc., 1964. 434 pp. $6.95.

This ambitious volume on sports has an imposing title. And when, you note the book's mere 435 pages, you wonder how it can presume to be an "Official Encyclopedia" of 33 sports plus the Olympic Games.

Yet, under the orderly guidance of John Pratt '29 and Jim Benagh, it does fulfill this function and is a service to sports fans everywhere.

Leaning on four assistant editors plus specified experts in fourteen of their 34 categories, the editors neatly delineate the history of each sport,' the rules which govern it today and a summary of the top stars during the growth of each game. Pratt, who has assembled three previous sports volumes, does not ,let the book bog down in interesting but unessential detail. He thoughtfully includes a bibliography of suggested reading on each sport for the benefit of, say, the hungry baseball fan who is not satisfied with merely two paragraphs on Babe Ruth. There also is a well-presented and accurate 83-page record section.

The range of sports is impressive. It races from archery to yachting, touches such unexpected bases as billiards, bowling, handball, judo, Softball, surfing and skydiving. Football gets the longest treatment although no Dartmouth team, player, or coach is mentioned in the text. Baseball is a close second with an interesting and abrupt dismissal of Abner Doubleday's position as founder of the game.

Line drawings complement the many photographs, the best in our opinion showing an aging Annie Oakley sighting down a gun barrel to illustrate the chapter on shooting.

The informal, humorous style permits this particular encyclopedia to be used for browsing as well as research. The content permits the volume to be used as a source of knowledge and detail. All in all, it is a pleasant surprise to find such an unpretentious and yet valuable text hidden under such a highflung title.

Director of Sports Information