In the period after the 1952 Olympics, the track and field world was dominated by two questions: Can man break the four-minute mile (some at the time thought the effort would kill athletes)? If so, who would do it? Focus soon shifted on the latter and three college students: Roger Bannister (Great Britain), John Landy (Australia), and Wes Santee (the U.S.). The Perfect Mile is the story of each man's pursuit of the dream of the sub-four mile. Bascomb focuses on each as the time line progresses from the Helsinki Games (where all three competed, but not against each other) to the Empire Games in Vancouver in 1954, where the 'perfect mile' is run. Bannister, Landy, and Santee come from vastly different backgrounds, have different experiences with being coached, ising their teammates (at least two of them do) and of course approach the mile from different views. Each, however, has the desire to be the first to break four minutes. As a result, they are keenly aware of each other's progress - a tenseness exists for each: will the conditions on the track be ideal (often not), will the weather be good (again often not), things beyond their control. Often they sit and wait, and hope the others have not set the record. Bascomb's writing is very factual. While he has empathy for what each runner is going through, he does not reveal any bias for or against them. His writing is very detailed - he did interview each of them, along with others who raced with (and against) them, their coaches, members of the media. What emerges is a true competition that crosses the world - Bannister, Landy, and Santee never raced against each other in one race - with a tension that builds until the four minute mile is broken. And that is not "the perfect mile." That comes later, in the first race with the first two runners to break the four minute mark going against each other (I won't say who they are). It is a fine conclusion to a well-written piece that gets your attention early. The Perfect Mile captures 1950's athletics as amateurism begins to give way to the professional in track and field.