Actually it is not a book about sport but about the history of sport, the odd relationship between golf and the Olympics. And odd it was. Fraser begins with the early days of the modern Olympics, chaotic games played by amateurs with small egos. Just as well as there was little kudos. Players were unaware that they were part of the 1900 Olympics The first player awarded a gold medal for golf was unaware she had won it. It makes you wistful for those halcyon days when sports were played by amateurs for fun, when budgets were small, and there was little razzmatazz, how very different from the bloated and rather ludicrous Olympics of today.

Back to the book. Fraser has done his researches and spoken to all the living descendants of the participants in the 1936 event which was associated with but not actually part of the Olympics. He has delved so far as he can into the minor mystery of whether Hitler was on his way to present the trophy when he was told it was Britain and not Germany that had won and turned back in a huff. This was a trope played by the British participants and has all the hallmarks of a good tall tale, although from what we know of Hitler’s hysterical personality it is not impossible. The author tells us that the German records, do not confirm that Hitler stayed in Berchtesgaden and travelling to Baden-Baden where the match took place, after the Berlin Olympics. However Mr Fraser does not tell us what the records do reveal of Hitler’s movements over the period. Documents may say nothing about Baden-Baden, for instance, but they may say something about Bavaria. In other words we do not know if there was evidence of where Hitler was at the time. That could have been the clincher. Finally finding that there was also a German source for the story leads the author finally to opt for its authenticity. I think it much more likely apocryphal.

The book is nicely illustrated and written with journalistic flair, and is full of curious and anecdotes about golf and golfers.