The Perfect Mile
Encyclopedia
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It (2004) by Neal Bascomb
is a non-fiction
book about three runners and their attempts to become the first man to run a mile under four minutes
. The runners are Englishman Roger Bannister
, American Wes Santee
, and Australian John Landy
. The book's climax is Bannister's breaking of the record on May 6, 1954.
The New York Times
review calls it an "enthralling book" and says Bascomb "expertly winds up the tension of the three men's many failed attempts to get closer to the magic mark, before Bannister wrote himself into legend first on a windy day at the Oxford University track".
Neal Bascomb
Neal Bascomb is an American journalist and author. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Miami University with a B.A. in Economics and English Literature . After graduation, he worked as a journalist in London, Paris, and Dublin. He was an editor for St. Martin's Press, and in 2000, he began writing...
is a non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
book about three runners and their attempts to become the first man to run a mile under four minutes
Four-minute mile
In the sport of athletics, the four-minute mile is the act of completing the mile run in less than four minutes. It was first achieved in 1954 by Roger Bannister in 3:59.4. The 'four minute barrier' has since been broken by many male athletes, and is now the standard of all male professional...
. The runners are Englishman Roger Bannister
Roger Bannister
Sir Roger Gilbert Bannister, CBE is an English former athlete best known for running the first recorded mile in less than 4 minutes...
, American Wes Santee
Wes Santee
David Wesley Santee was an American middle distance runner and athlete who competed mainly in the 1,500 meters and mile events....
, and Australian John Landy
John Landy
John Michael Landy, AC, CVO, MBE is an Australian former Olympic track athlete. He was the second man to break the four-minute mile barrier in the mile run, and he held the world records for the 1500 metre run and the mile race...
. The book's climax is Bannister's breaking of the record on May 6, 1954.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
review calls it an "enthralling book" and says Bascomb "expertly winds up the tension of the three men's many failed attempts to get closer to the magic mark, before Bannister wrote himself into legend first on a windy day at the Oxford University track".