The First Four Minutes.

BANNISTER, Roger.

$200.00

Item Number: 146690

Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing, 2004.

Limited hardback edition of this personal account of the most ground-breaking sporting achievement of the twentieth century, now with a new introduction and a substantial new chapter to mark the 50th Anniversary of the first sub-four-minute mile. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated with photographic plates. One of two hundred and thirty-nine copies signed by the author on a limitation slip adhered to the front flyleaf, this is number 196. Fine in a fine dust jacket.

At the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Roger Bannister set a British record in the 1500 metres dash and finished in fourth place. This act led to the single most incredible moment in twentieth century sports: the first sub-four-minute mile, an achievement Bannister had managed while also practicing as a junior doctor. Originally published in 1955 just after his retirement from foot-racing, 'The First Four Minutes' retells Bannister's experience of that day and the events that followed.