Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

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

(The Boys in The Boat)

Daniel James Brown (Goodreads Author)

4.34 · Rating details · 235,250 ratings · 22,013 reviews

For readers of Laura Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit and Unbroken, the dramatic story of the American rowing team that stunned the world at Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Daniel James Brown's robust book tells the story of the University of Washington's 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention o

...more

Get A Copy

Hardcover, 404 pages

Published June 4th 2013 by Viking

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Boys in the Boat, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

Microhistory: Social Histories of Just One Thing

1,565 books — 2,392 voters

Best Books of the Decade: 2010s

6,741 books — 13,235 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.34 ·

Rating details

· 235,250 ratings · 22,013 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Sep 07, 2013 Donna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography

I don't know why I put off reading this book so long, except I was reading other things. BUT when I went to visit my son, who is the grandson of Joe Rantz and named his son Joe after him, I began reading their copy and could not put it down. Everything else I was reading was put aside.

I then realized I would not finish it before I had to leave and besides, I wanted to OWN it. So I got the Kindle version. Besides, my son was also reading it and we had two book marks, his and mine in the book. So I don't know why I put off reading this book so long, except I was reading other things. BUT when I went to visit my son, who is the grandson of Joe Rantz and named his son Joe after him, I began reading their copy and could not put it down. Everything else I was reading was put aside.

I then realized I would not finish it before I had to leave and besides, I wanted to OWN it. So I got the Kindle version. Besides, my son was also reading it and we had two book marks, his and mine in the book. So it made things easier.

Wow, I was surprised at all the things I learned about Joe and Joyce I had not known before. I remember holding Joe's Olympic gold medal long ago when I first married his son, the first and last such medal I have ever held. I remember because it made such an impression on me. I remember the talk of the other "boys" and how they got together and I remember being invited to the planting of the tree for Joseph Rantz but did not go. I don't remember why. I have always proudly told everyone that my son's grandfather won an Olympic Gold Medal in Hitler's Germany in 1936. Who else can say that? Not many. But really, I had no idea what was involved in that accomplishment.

But after reading this book I realize how very special those boys were, and how important it was that it all came together, the very special men who all had hard upbringings, who had to scrape and scratch for every morsel they ever got, the now legendary boat maker and the coxswain. It took a very unique mix of ingredients to make that win happen and take home that Gold Medal.

But it had to be told in a way that we could all see it,feel it, get it. And Daniel Brown did just that. He interviewed Joe Rantz months before his death.

I remember a man who was tall, handsome, strong and always willing to help. I remember as a young single mother after I had divorced his son, how very warm and welcoming they were to me and how Joe would not only fix my broken down cars but would show me how he did it.

I remember when he fell from the tree when he was still out there too late in his life, climbing trees and cutting them down. I remember saying to myself, if only I could find a man like him, I would keep him. He was my ideal man but I had no idea how he came to be that man.

So now I know.

Update: Sadly last December 15th 2016 At 1:15 pm Joseph Devon Rantz, great grandson of Joe Rantz, was killed in a car accident riding with his friend who was driving in the pouring rain. The car hydroplaned in the rain crossed the median and hit a utility truck and then the bridge abutment. Both boys were wearing seatbelts but the driver was thrown from the car into Dry Creek. Both boys were killed instantly.
We have had tremendous, kind support from the community. We were devastated and just broken by the loss. He was a good kid, 18 years old in his senior year of high school, a lefty pitcher on the varsity baseball team. We loved him and miss him every day.

...more

flag 528 likes · Like · see review

Jun 13, 2013 Trish rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sports, adventure, nonfiction

If I told you one of the most propulsive reads you will experience this year is the non-fiction story of eight rowers and one coxswain training to attend the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, you may not believe me. But you’d need to back up your opinion by reading this book first, and you will thank me for it. Daniel James Brown has done something extraordinary here. We may already know the outcome of that Olympic race, but the pacing is exceptional. Brown juxtaposes descriptions of crew training in Sea If I told you one of the most propulsive reads you will experience this year is the non-fiction story of eight rowers and one coxswain training to attend the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, you may not believe me. But you’d need to back up your opinion by reading this book first, and you will thank me for it. Daniel James Brown has done something extraordinary here. We may already know the outcome of that Olympic race, but the pacing is exceptional. Brown juxtaposes descriptions of crew training in Seattle with national races against the IV League in Poughkeepsie; we see developments in a militarizing Germany paired with college competitions in depression-era United States; individual portraits of the “boys” (now dead) are placed alongside cameos of their coaches; he shares details of the early lives of a single oarsman, Joe Rantz, with details of his wife's parallel experiences.

The 1936 Olympics in Berlin was the stuff of legend, when Jesse Owens swept four gold medals in field and track, but a Washington crew team won that summer also, against great odds. How that victory took place and how a group of great athletes became great competitors is something Daniel James Brown spent five years trying to articulate. Quotes from George Pocock, crafter of cedar shells, head each chapter, sharing his experience watching individual oarsmen become a team.

At various times I have heard sports like baseball or golf, and now crew, described as “the thinking man’s game.” I like to imagine that any sport, particularly a team sport, is best performed when one is thinking. Surely strategies and tactics are involved. But when a team sport is performed fast and in key, there is something organic in its growth and peak performance that transcends “thinking.”

For one thing, there is the sustained coordinated rhythm of many bodies performing as one, starting from zero and demanding as much as two hundred heartbeats per minute in a sprint, erasing the individual and coalescing into something much bigger than each individual effort could achieve. This particular crew overcame the usual and expected race-day catastrophes to deliver the sweetest win they or their coaches had ever experienced. It is a story at the time and on the level of the historic Seabiscuit: An American Legend victory: speaking of the horse, the race, and the book by Laura Hillenbrand.

One of the things about a great book is the energy one derives from having encountered it. Great teachers generate interest in a subject and Brown did that in this book. Even if you have no knowledge of or interest in rowing before you begin, you will be fascinated by the end. In addition, Brown tells us some things about the Third Reich and Leni Reifenstahl’s photography for Hitler and of the 1936 Olympics that makes me want to revisit that film record. Reifenstahl had taken pictures (after the event) of the rowing crews from inside their boats, among other things, and when the film Olympia came out two years later, it cemented her reputation as a great filmmaker. Of course she is best known for creating the great propaganda film, Triumph of the Will . She used camera angles and techniques that had never been used before and was extraordinarily successful in supporting the political machine that was Germany in the 1930s.

A film version of The Boys in the Boat is scheduled, reputedly with Kenneth Branagh directing, which is sure to capture further interest in this remarkable story. A radio interview with Daniel James Brown is available to download from San Francisco radio station KLLC (radioalice). In it Daniel James Brown shares a little of his narrative non-fiction technique of keeping readers dangling at critical moments and turning instead to talk of parallel events to keep the tension high. He does it better than almost anyone—writers take note!

I believe I can guarantee this title—either you or someone close to you will find this a riveting summer read. I am pleased to be able to offer a giveaway of this title through my blog, ending August 15, 2013-- just enough time to receive it and read it before summer ends. So all of you unsure whether nonfiction is your “thing,” put aside your reservations, add your name to the list, and see if this story doesn’t float your boat. ...more

flag 260 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2017 Matthew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, 2018, favorites, audio, sports, library, history

I love books and movies that get you interested in sports you never cared about before. Also, I love how the Olympics does the same thing. You turn on the TV and suddenly life itself depends on the outcome of some not quite mainstream sport like biathlon, cycling, diving, curling, etc. - and, while watching, you become an expert at all the finer points of the sport. The Boys in the Boat is the perfect example of this type of story. And, with the Winter Olympics coming up, the perfect way to whet ...more

flag 184 likes · Like · see review

Jul 12, 2015 Brina rated it really liked it

Shelves: history

I read this book because my father kept telling me that I would enjoy it. Truthfully, l finally picked up so he would stop nagging me about it even though it is about sports and history- my two favorite things.
Boys in the Boat is the motivational story of Joe Rantz, his wife Joyce, and the other members of the 1936 Washington University rowing team that won gold at the Berlin Olympics. This story is partially the story of Joe's perseverance during the depression and also his rowing team's quest ...more

flag 133 likes · Like · see review

Feb 06, 2019 Angela M rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

I honestly didn’t think I would be interested in a book about rowing, but I just couldn’t ignore the fact that so many people loved this book. I added it to my list of books to read about three years ago and I’m so glad that I finally got to it because it was about so much more than the sport. Nine young men making up the USA Rowing Team in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin weren’t just rowing for a medal, they “were rowing for a set of values, a way of life”. They were the USA Olympics Rowing Team co
I honestly didn’t think I would be interested in a book about rowing, but I just couldn’t ignore the fact that so many people loved this book. I added it to my list of books to read about three years ago and I’m so glad that I finally got to it because it was about so much more than the sport. Nine young men making up the USA Rowing Team in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin weren’t just rowing for a medal, they “were rowing for a set of values, a way of life”. They were the USA Olympics Rowing Team competing during a time when Hitler and the Nazis were making laws against Jews, burning books and planning the horrors that we now know occurred. It’s about how this team of young men from working class families who worked hard, endured hardships, and achieved greatness in the eyes of the world, and most certainly in the eyes of their fellow Americans. It’s a reflection of the time in the US just after the stock market crash and the Great Depression. While it’s the story of this team and this country, we also experience the story on a more personal level through Joe Rantz’s life.

The narrative alternates between the time that Joe Rantz is a student at the University of Washington and to his sad childhood. Joe seemed to live an ideal life, happy with his mother and father and brother until his mother dies when he was four. It was heartbreaking to see how he was abandoned time and time again when his father remarries and his stepmother just doesn’t want him around. At ten he lives a “life in exile” and at fifteen ends up on his own, digging ditches, building barns, doing whatever it took to support himself and eat . With such stamina and dedication, working as a janitor at the Y for a room, practicing, and studying, I couldn’t help but love Joe and his teammates and pull for them with each race. Highly recommended, even if you’re not interested in crewing because this is just so much more.

This was my first audio book. I tried previously and couldn’t get used to the feeling that someone was reading to me, but I thought I’d try again. It turned out to be a great experience, no doubt because of the inspiring story .
...more

flag 119 likes · Like · see review

May 26, 2013 Diane S ☔ rated it it was amazing

If someone had told me I would become emotionally invested is a book about rowing, I would have thought they were crazy. First, I knew little about rowing and second, I had no desire to learn. A read for a group I am in had me picking up this book and I am so glad I did. As many mothers have said, try it before you decode you don't like it.

An amazing balance of human interest, history and sport. Joe Rantz's story had my mothers heart wanting to give his ten year old self a big hug. His story and ...more

flag 111 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2014 Emily rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, 2014, history

This book was all right, but there was just too much of it and the title isn't very descriptive. It's really only about one of the nine "boys in the boat," plus their coach and the boatbuilder. Oh, and Hitler.

Perhaps the author came to the project 10-15 years too late; only one of the main subjects survived to be interviewed by 2006, and that figure (Joe Rantz) makes the book worthwhile. Having grown up dirt poor, abandoned by his family, with a strong work ethic and a charming, loyal fiancée, This book was all right, but there was just too much of it and the title isn't very descriptive. It's really only about one of the nine "boys in the boat," plus their coach and the boatbuilder. Oh, and Hitler.

Perhaps the author came to the project 10-15 years too late; only one of the main subjects survived to be interviewed by 2006, and that figure (Joe Rantz) makes the book worthwhile. Having grown up dirt poor, abandoned by his family, with a strong work ethic and a charming, loyal fiancée, he's someone you can't help but root for. But his story is buried in dozens of pages of descriptions of early twentieth century crew rivalries and what woods to make boats out of and a highly superfluous retelling of the early years of Nazi rule. All of that material is less interesting than Joe Rantz's life, and all of it is noticeably less immediate. I often like nonfiction that weaves several strands together so my complaint here is chiefly about the comparative worthwhileness of the strands rather than the author's art in pulling them together. Then there's the factor of the book's sheer length; my sigh when I realized I was hundreds of pages in and only up to the start of junior-year training must have been audible from Lake Washington.

I've written in another review or two about how the events of WWII, when you stare at them long enough, go from incomprehensible to almost unbelievable. But this book (and In The Garden of Beasts) conjures the opposite cognitive problem, which is that it is impossible for the reader to put the facts of what happened after the 1930s out of our minds. Both books are trading on a rather ghoulish dramatic irony of innocent, upstanding Americans willingly visiting the evil Nazi state without realizing the depth of its coming crimes, but neither manages to evoke the mindset that allowed the Americans to do so, or the historical fact that the later events of WWII and Holocaust were not inevitable. In Erik Larson's book, I think there is a point to be made that a different man serving as ambassador might have measured up the danger more wisely, but where this book is concerned, it would be absurd to say Joe Rantz and his fellows--who had barely been out of Washington State--should have been more perceptive or that they could have done anything.

Even whatever pleasure you might get from seeing an American team win under Hitler's nose has to be tempered by an appreciation of how meaningless this was in the long run. The power in this story comes from the boys' personal stories of overcoming Depression-era obstacles, so padding the book with discussions of Leni Riefenstahl and the fate of a particular German-Jewish family after Kristallnacht draws the wrong kind of contrast by putting the race in the context of world history rather than personal achievement.

I'm ultimately glad I read this because of its evocation of early twentieth century Seattle and its ability to make you cheer for Joe Rantz, but I suspect it was propelled onto the bestseller list by attracting the attention of readers who perhaps don't read 25-30 nonfiction books per year and liked the drama of the Olympic win and implied impending wartime victory more than I was bothered by the author's somewhat paint-by-numbers assembly of the elements of this story. ...more

flag 106 likes · Like · see review

Dec 10, 2014 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: own

Why did I wait so long to read this? Well, a couple of reasons: 1) It’s about rowing…No offense, it’s just not a sport I’m wowed by. 2) It’s about a group of Americans going to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Hey, I’m Canadian, eh... American patriotism and propaganda isn’t my gig.
So finally I picked it up; put it down. Then thought to hell with it, I’m doing this. I cracked the spine, sat down and for the last few days, every spare moment has been living and breathing this story.

It starts with th ...more

flag 82 likes · Like · see review

Jul 10, 2014 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, history, biography-autobiography-memoir, war

Wow!!!

The books power is in the storytelling. Starts right out on page 1

These were remarkable men -their sacrifice - committed dedication - had to scape for everything -their boat wasn't just handed to them... not all had cozy supportive families.
Joe Rantz's humanity - especially - makes you want to be a better human being yourself.
All these men were humble - with committed dedication -- they were a team. Proud to be American!

With the American depression -the dust bowl -the rise to Hitler - ...more

flag 76 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2020 Victoria rated it it was amazing

MAGNIFICENT!

As perfect as nonfiction gets. An awe inspiring and finely-crafted story brought to life with a multifaceted and rousing narrative. Daniel James Brown manages to seamlessly weave in the history of the time--the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, rise of the Third Reich among other events--never becoming academic, all the while providing perspective and depth.

The story of how nine, working-class boys overcame obstacles, persevered and eventually succeeded beyond all expectations will take y MAGNIFICENT!

As perfect as nonfiction gets. An awe inspiring and finely-crafted story brought to life with a multifaceted and rousing narrative. Daniel James Brown manages to seamlessly weave in the history of the time--the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, rise of the Third Reich among other events--never becoming academic, all the while providing perspective and depth.

The story of how nine, working-class boys overcame obstacles, persevered and eventually succeeded beyond all expectations will take your breath away. And even if you think you’re not interested in a book about a varsity crew, you will cheer every race on as if you were on the sidelines and you will be captivated by how suspenseful they will turn out to be.

There is so much to love and such brilliant storytelling, I could go on for pages, but there are thousands of reviews so I will just say that this is the book you want to read RIGHT NOW. You will come away with a renewed sense of what it means to overcome whatever life throws at you, what it truly means to band together to accomplish a goal and you might just feel a little hope, something we sorely need.

I listened to the audio version narrated by Edward Herrmann (known to GG fans as Richard Gilmore) and I can’t imagine having experienced this story any other way. He enhanced the story tremendously and punctuated the narration with equal measures of gravitas, lightness and utter delight. I highly recommend the audio, but you may also want to have the book on hand for the remarkable photos.

It’s fitting that I’m publishing this review on National Spirit of ’45 Day which honors the can-do attitude of an entire generation affected by the trials and hardships of World War II. This day sets out to illustrate the mettle of the people of the Greatest Generation of which these boys were a part. Their stories deserve to be told, admired and emulated.

P.S. There is a PBS documentary, The Boys of ’36, which I have yet to watch, but I’m looking forward to as it has been lauded as a wonderful tribute to this group of young men.

P.P.S. After years in development hell at The Weinstein Group, the rights to this story have been purchased by another studio and George Clooney has been tapped to direct. I’m hopeful that this film will finally be made, this story deserves the widest audience possible. ...more

flag 68 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2019 Swaroop rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Divine, Masterful, Soulful and Powerful

Harmony, balance and rhythm. They`re the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that's why oarsman when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That's what he gets from rowing.

~ George Yeoman Pocock

Daniel James Brown`s The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics is an amazing and intimate account of nine working-class American bo ...more

flag 67 likes · Like · see review

Jul 04, 2015 Dem rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Dem by: Diane

Shelves: favorites, ww2, 5-star

The Boys In The Boat in an extremely beuatifually written account of the Universary of Washingtons's Rowing team that won a gold Metal in 1936 Berlin Olympics'

I had no real desire to read a book about sport let alone read a book about rowing but something about a frinds's review here on goodreads pushed me to read this book and I am so glad I did as I loved every moment of it.

I read this on Kindle (oh how I wish I owned a Hard Copy of this book) and I listened to it on audio and what wonderful ...more

flag 62 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2015 Britany rated it it was ok

Shelves: mmd, world-war-ii, non-fiction

I'm going to start off by saying that I'm in the minority on this one, and I'm ok with that.

I felt like I was rowing through the Nile River getting through this book. I wanted it to be great, I wanted it to read like a narrative story, and most of all, I wanted to connect to the characters. I mean, who wouldn't love poor Joe Rantz- a guy that comes from nothing and literally gets left behind by his family- succeed at something?? The story at small points held my interest, and the last chapter w ...more

flag 56 likes · Like · see review

Sep 04, 2014 Carmen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Non-Fiction Fans, History Buffs

Shelves: traditionally-published, he-says, published2013, non-fiction, american-author

Everyone should have heard of this book by now. It's about the crew team that won the gold medal in the Berlin Olympics.

This is really perfect from a non-fiction standpoint. We have poverty and hard work - Joe, our focus, is very poor and works insanely hard just to afford food.

We have Hitler's Germany - always a winner if you want to sell books.

We have Americans triumphing on an international stage, "sticking it to Hitler," as it were. Surefire winner there.

We have "men, patriots! united in har ...more

flag 53 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2014 Cher rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, bookclub, nonfiction, pbcp

4 stars - It was great. I loved it.

The fact that I had no interest in, and in fact dreaded reading this book club selection yet ending up loving it, is testament to how compelling this inspirational story was.

I have no interest in rowing. Actually, I have no interest in sports. Thankfully, this is not just a book about rowing and Olympic races. The author seamlessly weaves in details about Germany and Hitler's rise to power, the dust bowl, America in post-depression years and on the cusp of WWI ...more

flag 48 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2015 Cathrine ☯️ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

To be able to tell a story about an event where the outcome is known ahead of time, about a subject the reader has no interest in, the pages seemingly turning themselves and keeping one riveted all the way is some feat. A team of nine boys, sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, whose coach would come to think of as the greatest racing crew in history, take us on a vision quest through the depression years. Hard work, sheer guts, extreme determination, and supreme respect for one anothe ...more

flag 46 likes · Like · see review

May 23, 2015 Jonetta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Jonetta by: Cathrine

Shelves: 16000-in-2016, audiobook, nc-br-digital-library, group-read, history, non-fiction

This is a bit more than the story of the 1936 Olympic crew challenge by the team from the University of Washington. Using one of the crew members as the focus, it combines his personal experience against the backdrop of the important historical events of that era (the 1929 stock market crash and resultant depression, the dust bowls, the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich, etc.). It made for a richer story with the added context.

While the backgrounds and histories of the other members of the 9-m ...more

flag 47 likes · Like · see review

Sep 03, 2014 Carol rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, read-2015

Really enjoyed reading about The Boys In The Boat and their quest to win US GOLD at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. While a bit heavy on the practice runs (for me) the excitement of the actual races kept me engrossed as well as the heartbreaking personal background of Joe Rantz, and his struggles to overcome adversity.

Although not particularly a fan of boat racing, I found this work of non-fiction and the many tidbits of historical data laced throughout the story informative and memorable...........a

...more

flag 40 likes · Like · see review

Feb 14, 2017 Geza Tatrallyay rated it it was amazing

I loved this book. It is a study of human struggle, teamwork, the striving for perfection. As a former Olympic athlete, I can understand what these boys went through to achieve a dream -- and that for some, the dream comes alive as they struggle, and then the struggle only becomes more intense. Also, set against the backdrop of the Berlin Olympics, the struggle is just that much more poignant. My grandfather who was the official doctor of the Hungarian team in 1936, left a wonderful book for me ...more

flag 39 likes · Like · see review

Feb 02, 2019 Brian rated it really liked it

“Like so much in life, crew was partly about confidence, partly about knowing your own heart.”

I really enjoy books that find a human story in the midst of a larger historical drama. “The Boys In The Boat” is such a book. Although its primary focus is the sport of rowing, and specifically the sport on the west coast of the US, and more specifically at the University of Washington and 9 crew members and the coaching staff there, it also captures an era and the first 40 years of the 20th century ve “Like so much in life, crew was partly about confidence, partly about knowing your own heart.”

I really enjoy books that find a human story in the midst of a larger historical drama. “The Boys In The Boat” is such a book. Although its primary focus is the sport of rowing, and specifically the sport on the west coast of the US, and more specifically at the University of Washington and 9 crew members and the coaching staff there, it also captures an era and the first 40 years of the 20th century very well.
This text does a nice job of jumping between the life of Joe Rantz (the member of this iconic crew team that the book gives the most attention to), the history and mechanics of the sport of rowing, and the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Berlin.
The depiction of the buildup to, and opening ceremony of, the 1936 Olympic Games is well done. The author jumps from the perspective of the boys on the US Rowing Team to the propagandist workings of the Nazi state and the manner in which they created the image of the games and Nazi Germany that they wanted conveyed to the world. It is compelling.
A highlight of the text is chapter 18 where the reader is immersed in the climatic gold medal race. The writing is taut, dramatic, and creates tension in the reader despite the fact that we already know the result.
Daniel James Brown is a solid writer. His prose is efficient, but not beautiful. Occasionally he tries to get poetic, and it is just not his milieu, and it shows. This is not a criticism of his style, just an observation. The good moments in this text far outnumber the bad.
As I read the Epilogue, I missed my grandfather and some of the other people I have known from this generation of Americans. Our society has fallen short of the life those people lived. In this text we are hit again and again with the hardships that were such a normal part of life for most Americans during the first 40 years of the last century, and one wonders if our current generations could surpass with such flying colors the hardships that they did.
After following the boys of the 1936 US Rowing Team thru the years of their youth, to read about their decline and eventual deaths in the Epilogue can’t help but make the reader a little down. Youth is for a season, life just a vapor that quickly passes, and then it is gone. And few there are among us that will have a sort of immortality as those boys did. The final paragraphs of the text drive that realization home. They are simply lovely to read. ...more

flag 47 likes · Like · see review

Sep 13, 2015 Esil rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I listened to The Boys in the Boat on audio, which was a good way to absorb this book. It's the story of the US rowing victory in the 1936 Olympics. There's way more to this book than "they worked hard, and then they won". Daniel James Brown cleverly pulls together a lot of great information, which I listened to in 40 minute increments on my walk to work every morning. He focuses particularly on one of the oarsmen, Joe Rantz, giving a very detailed portrait of his family, background and characte ...more

flag 39 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2018 JD rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, sport

This is an epic book. It is the story about the Washington State rowing crew that won the 1936 Olympic gold in Berlin, told mainly through the eyes of one of the oarsmen, Joe Rantz. But it is so much more than a sports story, it is the story of the young men suffering through the Depression-era in small town America and their hopes, dreams, sacrifices and hard-work to reach their end goal of a better life for them. It is a truly inspiring story and a real tribute to this team of young men that s ...more

flag 39 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2020 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, nonfiction

It was a shared experience—a singular thing that had unfolded in a golden sliver of time long gone, when nine good-hearted young men strove together, pulled together as one, gave everything they had for one another, bound together forever by pride and respect and love.

I just took a massive standardized test (which is why I’ve been incommunicado for some time), so guess those kinds of questions are still swimming in my brain! There’s especially this example that sociology classes will bring u
It was a shared experience—a singular thing that had unfolded in a golden sliver of time long gone, when nine good-hearted young men strove together, pulled together as one, gave everything they had for one another, bound together forever by pride and respect and love.

I just took a massive standardized test (which is why I’ve been incommunicado for some time), so guess those kinds of questions are still swimming in my brain! There’s especially this example that sociology classes will bring up about cultural capital—that is, what you know—and how it can reproduce social inequalities. You know, that infamous example of the analogy where:

runner: marathon
(A) envoy: embassy
(B) martyr: massacre
(C) oarsman: regatta
(D) horse: stable

And, folks, the answer choice is C! Process of elimination notwithstanding, the essential critique was that this question advantaged the more affluent test-takers who knew what the heck a regatta actually was, let alone coxswains or catching crabs. Crew is one of those sports that grew popular in the rich and wealthy corridors of Oxford and Cambridge and found its way to the elite collegiate counterparts on the New England coast. I had this strikingly similar perception myself (I placed it in the same box as golf), so color me surprised that there was a book about nine scrappy boys from the West who scrabbled their way to gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Boys in the Boat is an underdog story at its finest. Boys who were hardened by the Great Depression and crippling poverty but persevered to accomplish a special feat in their time together at the University of Washington. These were loggers, farm boys, miners, and fishermen—the perfect antithesis to the old money and tradition of the Ivy League crews. And when they race against the other teams, you feel their exhilaration in victory as your own. When they struggle to find their swing, your heart grows leaden with the same anxiety and disappointment.

Daniel James Brown has captured the scope of these boys’ physical and emotional journeys beautifully. Focusing on the years preceding 1936, the book spends the most time with Joe Rantz. His mother died young, and his father and stepmother abandoned him at age ten to fend for himself in the wilderness of Washington. His compelling story, as are the struggles and triumphs of the other key characters that intercalate this central narrative, ultimately allow The Boys in the Boat to shine. Unfortunately, some plotlines felt disruptive; I personally found the parts about Hitler and Germany less essential, too vague that they failed to establish the desired context.

Despite occasions where Brown may wander too far into descriptions of events and risk veering into a string of platitudes, I appreciated his natural exposition about the details of this sport. Melding some beginner-level physics with the basic technique of crew and coaching strategy, I found myself getting a better picture of the skill and coordination that must be flawlessly implemented by an eight-man rowing team.

This book is undoubtedly of the inspirational variety. I can understand why the American Dream is so ingrained in our country’s mythos, and as disillusioned as I become about the real injustices that contradict it, I think there’s always a secret spot reserved in my heart for the kind of genuine optimism, strength, and integrity that The Boys in the Boat exudes in spades. Eventually, the crew, the races, the Olympics all drift away into the background until you reach the crux of it—the accomplishment of nine good men bound by trust and affection.

They were rowing perfectly, fluidly, mindlessly. They were rowing as if on another plane, as if in a black void among the stars, just as Pocock had said they might. And it was beautiful.
...more

flag 38 likes · Like · see review

Oct 12, 2014 Michael rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, history, germany, biography, washington, sports

Quite an uplifting story of the young men from the University of Washington who took the gold medal for nine-men shell rowing at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Like Hillenbrand’s wonderful book “Seabiscuit” this is a tale of underdogs overcoming personal adversities and capturing the attention of a nation laid low by the Great Depression. Starting in 1933, we get the story of a young man, Joe Rantz, arriving at the college and merging the dreams from his hardscrabble life with that of other sons o ...more

flag 36 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2013 Cathy rated it it was amazing

This book is so good you won't want to pick up another book for a while after finishing it, knowing that nothing else could be this good. High marks for story, characters, writing, and research. Nine University of Washington students, the sons of loggers, farmers, and miners, overcome many disadvantages of their impoverished circumstances and learn to row their eight-oared racing shell to perfection. The transcendent experience of coming together as a team doesn't happen without a struggle, and ...more

flag 36 likes · Like · see review

Mar 03, 2016 Perry rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mina-favoritböcker

Vivid part of "eternal landscape of the past" embodying the "mighty hopes that make us men" and women*
Story of Glory, Evocative of Greek Mythology

Jesse Owens Wins Olympic Gold in 100 meter sprint, as Hitler watches on

1936 U.S. Olympic Rowing Team

You probably already know this book is about the majestic quest of the U.S. rowing team for Olympic gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. I doubt I can add much to persuade you to read this outstanding book of gold and glory telling a story evocative of ...more

flag 32 likes · Like · see review

Nov 16, 2014 David rated it liked it

What a hodge-podge mix of interesting and at other times dull events! The book jacket calls it "breathtaking" and I've not found that yet. It also says it's a "suspenseful tale of triumph" and I haven't found the suspense yet. The back jacket terms it "riveting" and I haven't found that yet. Turns out that about 60% through the story, the author kicks it in. The last of 4 sections picks up the pace and is a fine telling of an interesting story, and it becomes a fascinating tale of strategy, stre What a hodge-podge mix of interesting and at other times dull events! The book jacket calls it "breathtaking" and I've not found that yet. It also says it's a "suspenseful tale of triumph" and I haven't found the suspense yet. The back jacket terms it "riveting" and I haven't found that yet. Turns out that about 60% through the story, the author kicks it in. The last of 4 sections picks up the pace and is a fine telling of an interesting story, and it becomes a fascinating tale of strategy, strength, dedication, boat construction and superior coaching - a total synthesis which produced champions.

Indeed, though the title tells us that it deals with the 9 boys in the Washington shell, as pictured on the front cover, the author tells a lot about Joe Rantz, some about Shorty Hunt, a bit about Roger Morris, then in the last of four sections we learn the others were made up of different UW students, including coxswain Bobby Moch. Brown dedicates the book "for" the nine, whose lives and careers and deaths he summaries in a very fine Epilogue.

OVERALL, the book lacks a clear focus, thereby seeming disjointed, mixing significant events with the trivial or irrelevant. For instance, there are 2 pages devoted to a "cyclonic windstorm" (which had nothing to do with the sculling). And 20 pages are devoted to the famous German movie-maker Leni Riefenstahl and asserting that Goebbels propositioned her on his knees (which had nothing to do even indirectly with the boys in the boat). And such other irrelevances as that a Seattle hockey team defeated the Montreal Canadians many decades ago. And that the "Black Sunday in the Plains blew away twice the amount of soil that had been excavated from the Panama Canal." Also extensive reconstruction details for the Berlin Olympics stadium, far from where the crew races were to be held. Other examples of which there are hundreds:- Before sailing to Europe, the boys visited Loew's State Theatre for Duke Ellington "under the theater's huge Czech-crystal chandelier, sitting in red-plush theater seats and surrounded by gilded woodwork, they listened entranced as Ellington and his orchestra lilted through Mood Indigo [as author Brown continues naming all the pieces] and Joe basked in the bright, brassy music, soaking it in as it washed over him, feeling it swing him". Irrelevant to the rowing story? It adds "color," and such extraneous journalistic flourishes throughout the book must add over 100 pages of extraneous interest to the core history of the boys and their singular rowing experiences and victories.

The best parts are about the sport of rowing sculls of which there is a lot of lore and technical information given here. (Thus I give the book 3 instead of 2 stars.) On this aspect of rowing, the author did well in portraying master craftsman George Pocock who emigrated from England to Canada and settled in Seattle to market his extraordinary skills as boat-maker - with the author giving us a lot of fine technical info. Even Pocock's use of Sperm whale oil on the shell underside before the final winning Olympic race. All ll chapters begin with a relevant quotation from Mr. Pocock, from a 1987 biography of Pocock. And, indeed almost 'riveting', the few scull races which these 9 boys won in Seattle, Oakland, Poughkeepsie, and then a different set of nine at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin were remarkable extraordinary athletic feats worthy of book treatment.

As a book about a notable slice of sporting history, this book may be compared to Doris Kearns Goodwin's 1998 "Wait Till Next Year" and Laura Hillenbrand's 2001 book "Seabiscuit" - though in my comparison this book comes in at best a very weak third.

With the paperback running to 404 pages, one wonders if it might have been more "riveting" if reduced to 300 or 250 pages. Does this book deserve an index running to 12 pages in small point type? Fortunately the publisher reduced in excess of a thousand endnotes to a mere 15 pages to save us from further ennui. One might wonder if this would have been greatly improved if Penguin Books had spent money on a major editing job to greatly improve its quality. ...more

flag 31 likes · Like · see review

Jul 02, 2015 Chrissie rated it really liked it

Shelves: usa, audible, bio, germany, history, 2015-read

I am not competitive and team sports do not enthuse me, yet still I got excited and was rooting for the American team. Crazy but true. Every darn reviewer says the same thing! I have to explain what I think happened to me.

It took me a while to feel the excitement. Half-way through the book I had an epiphany. The reason why I am not into competitive team sports is not that I couldn’t care less who wins, but that I am one who doesn't and never has enjoyed working together in a group. I am a loner I am not competitive and team sports do not enthuse me, yet still I got excited and was rooting for the American team. Crazy but true. Every darn reviewer says the same thing! I have to explain what I think happened to me.

It took me a while to feel the excitement. Half-way through the book I had an epiphany. The reason why I am not into competitive team sports is not that I couldn’t care less who wins, but that I am one who doesn't and never has enjoyed working together in a group. I am a loner. Give me a job and I will do it well, but please let me do it alone. To understand team thinking is hard for me

The author personalizes the Olympic win through Joe Rantz, one of the American rowing crew that won the Olympic Gold in Berlin in 1936. One of eight oarsmen, one of nine if you count in the coxswain. But you have to count in the coach, Al Ulbrickson. You have to count in George Pocock, he made the boats. These shells are not just any old boats. They are made with western redcedar (Thuja plicata), but more importantly they are made with love and care. You have at least eleven people working together and the only way to succeed is to forget your own self and become one with the others. THIS is what I had to understand. It didn't help to be told this, in the first half of the book, but finally I understood it, in my heart, in my being. That is the epiphany. The complete synchronism of a group is a beauty to behold.

By tying the Olympic win to these people the author makes you understand. Tell me, how many books can pull in a reader when the subject is a whole group of people? Brown succeeds. Particularly Joe Rantz and George Popcock, their life stories grabbed me, but plenty is told of the others so you understand how it happens they all became one. You cannot be told to feel what you don't feel. You cannot be lectured or threatened with, "Otherwise you will fail!" It just has to happen and the reader has to see it happen. Joe, he too had to have such an epiphany.

Topics covered - the infatuation with Hitler in Berlin in the 30s, antisemitism in Germany and the US in the 30s, the publicity stunt of Leni Riefenstahl, the Depression, a dysfunctional family, the beauty of wood and of course rowing. All of these topics are woven in bit by bit. They are not dumped on you, so you sink. You have to understand the art of rowing to understand the win. I had quite a bit to learn.

The only thing I worried about is how much of this "team spirit" credo was a creation of the author to make a good story and how much was what actually was going on in Joe's head then, back there in the 30s. I am a born skeptic. I assume this book is based on Brown's talks with Joe. I certainly hope so.

There is a succinct epilog that details what happens to all of the central role-players after the 1936 Summer Olympics. It follows each of them until their respective deaths.

The narration by Edward Herrmann was p-e-r-f-e-c-t! During the races, at least by the book's end, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, it was so very exciting. Clearly spoken and a good speed. Easy to follow.

Here is a Cinderella story in modern format.
...more

flag 29 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2018 Quirkyreader rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This book had been on my TBR pile for a while and I read it as part of one of the challenges I participate in.

I throughly enjoyed Brown's writing style. It made the book un-putdownable. I wanted to keep going to the end.

In this sport history book you will find characters who will wrench your heart and that you keep rooting for. This rowing crew started out as rag-tag but eventually became a whole unit.

Mostly, if you are feeling down, this work is very inspiring. And it can help you discover your ...more

flag 30 likes · Like · see review

May 15, 2015 Michael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2015, audio-book

Surely one of the best books I've read, and undoubtedly one of the finest audiobooks ever produced. Without any bells, whistles, or voices, Edward Hermann magnificently narrates the story of 9 ordinary kids and their extraordinary path to Olympic gold.

It's one of those rare works of non-fiction: one that told me the whole story, and yet left me wanting to find out so much more. ...more

flag 28 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Italia: Richiesta info	1	43	Jan 01, 2021 12:26PM
░N░e░w░ ░A░u░t░h░...: Daniel James Brown	2	5	Sep 28, 2020 11:41PM
Rolla Public Libr...: August BotM "The Boys in the Boat"	8	5	Sep 03, 2020 07:24AM
Play Book Tag: The Boys In The Boat-5 Stars(Polls)	6	14	Jan 31, 2020 04:19PM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Videos About This Book

2 comments

Genres

Nonfiction

3,504 users

History

2,087 users

Sports > Sports

870 users

Biography

787 users

Audiobook

346 users

Historical

332 users

Book Club

300 users

War > World War II

182 users

North American Hi... > American History

169 users

Autobiography > Memoir

134 users

See top shelves…

About Daniel James Brown

Daniel James Brown

1,117 followers

Daniel James Brown lives in the country east of Redmond, Washington, where he writes nonfiction books about compelling historical events.

Brown's newest book--Facing the Mountain--follows the lives of four young Japanese American men as they and their families bravely confront harsh new realities brought about by the onset of World War II. Facing the Mountain comes on the heels of Brown's New York ...more

Other books in the series

The Boys in The Boat (2 books)

Books by Daniel James Brown

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride

Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894

Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II

More…

13 Terrifyingly True Tales

Even nonfiction can hold the stuff of nightmares. Whether it’s natural disasters, outbreaks of plague, or serial killers hidden...

Trivia About The Boys in the B...

5 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Boys in the B...

“It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.” — 83 likes

“It takes energy to get angry. It eats you up inside. I can't waste my energy like that and expect to get ahead. When they left, it took everything I had in me just to survive. Now I have to stay focused. I've just gotta take care of it myself' Joe Rantz” — 65 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown

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

(The Boys in The Boat)

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Videos About This Book

Genres

About Daniel James Brown

Other books in the series

Books by Daniel James Brown

Related Articles

Trivia About The Boys in the B...

Quotes from The Boys in the B...