Cover via Open Library
Matt's pick · not sponsored
The Boys in the Boat
- 1936 Olympics
- rowing
- Great Depression
- teamwork
- underdog
- Nazi Germany
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Why I'd hand it to you
Nine young men from working-class families at the University of Washington ended up rowing for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Brown builds the story around Joe Rantz, who was left to fend for himself as a teenager and found something like a family in that boat. Along the way you get the Depression, the boatbuilder George Pocock, and the strange backdrop of Hitler's Games. It is a warm book about teamwork and grit. Patience helps: the first half moves slowly, and there is more rowing detail than some readers will want. Stick with it, because the final races are worth the build-up.
— Matt Jordan
Quick summary
- Book
- The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
- Who it's for
- Readers who enjoy underdog sports stories, teamwork and Depression-era history, with patience for a slower first half.
- Key topics
- The University of Washington rowing crew
- The 1936 Berlin Olympics
- Joe Rantz's story
- The Great Depression
- Shelves
- History, Biography, General Nonfiction
Details
- Author
- Daniel James Brown
- ASIN
- 0143125478
- On these shelves
- History Biography General Nonfiction
- Short link
mattsbooks.org/r/bboa
