Picture-perfect Photography Books

Rare Air, by Michael Jordan with Walter Iooss Jr. (1993)
One of the best-selling photo books of all time provides strikingly intimate glimpses of Air Jordan at home, at work and at play during the 1992-93 season.

Sports! by Neil Leifer (1978)
A collection of action images and portraits that's regarded by many sports journalists as the best of its kind; text by George Plimpton and a foreword by Red Smith.

Olympia, by Leni Riefenstahl (1937)
Granted exclusive access to the 1936 Olympics by Adolf Hitler himself, Riefenstahl produced a propaganda film and this collection of beautiful but chilling images.

The Pros, Robert Riger (1960)
The from-the-sidelines view of the NFL, with black-and-white photos and pencil sketches.

The Spectacle of Sport, by Sports Illustrated (1957)
The best color photographs from the exciting first three years of the magazine as well as essays by such writers as William Faulkner, A.J. Liebling and Herbert Warren Wind.