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The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics / DanielJames Brown

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The 1936 Olympics are probably best remembered by Americans for the singular accomplishment of Jesse Owens, his athletic prowess totally debunking the notion of Aryan supremacy at the “Nazi Olympics”.  The Americans also bested the Germans in the eight-man crew competition, and The Boys in the Boat tells of their quest to win gold.

The backstory mainly focuses on Joe Rantz and his hard-luck upbringing as a de facto orphan in depression era Washington. Rowing was his ticket to education at the University of W, and his place on crew, though never assured and always fought for, was a path to betterment and an improved station in life.  I was really taken by his hard-knocks life and marveled at all the hardships that he overcame.

The book also focuses on George Pocock, the Englishman whose skill at boat-building (known in crew as “shells”) set the standard in the 1930s. There are other characters such as Al Ulbrickson, the indomitable coach, who badgers and shepherds the boys to victory.

The description of the races, especially the final in Berlin, will keep the reader at the edge of his or her seat.  This was an era when crew regattas captured the attention of not only the local populace who lined the waterfront on race days, but drew in the entire nation via wireless.  The reader may experience the same excitement of the unfolding action with the stroke-by-stroke narrative communicated almost as if it were being transmitted by radio.

Click on this link for a Youtube clip of the rowing competition at the 1936 Olympics.  At the end is some original footage of the race described in The Boys in the Boat (along with some recreated scenes from within the boat) .

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