The Four-Minute Mile - Softcover

Forty-some years after the barrier was broken it's difficult to imagine how daunting a challenge the four-minute mile once was, but for a generation of world-class runners it represented the impossible dream. Roger Bannister, the British middle-distance runner who finally achieved the epic quest in 1954, wrote this stunning memoir of his life as a runner a year later; intelligent, analytical, dramatic, and graceful, it remains a sporting classic. Though two introductions have been added in years since, it's a shame that Bannister, a remarkable man who graduated from Oxford to a distinguished medical career, has never penned a more complete memoir. Still, his achievement as a young man remains one of the pivotal moments in 20th-century sports, and his account of that achievement is as good a glimpse into a runner's race toward greatness as has ever been written.

SIR ROGER BANNISTER was a medical student at Oxford when he made his famous run in 1954. He retired from competition after graduation, though he continued to run until 1975. He was knighted in 1975 after a successful career as a neurologist.