The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown is Andover's third community read. Join the discussion.
Summary
The Boys in the Boat celebrates the 1936 U.S. men’s Olympic eight-oar rowing team—nine working class boys who stormed the rowing world, transformed the sport, and galvanized the attention of millions of Americans.
The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers from the American West, the boys took on and defeated successive echelons of privilege and power. They vanquished the sons of bankers and senators rowing for elite eastern universities. They defeated the sons of British aristocrats rowing for Oxford and Cambridge. And finally, in an extraordinary race in Berlin they stunned the Aryan sons of the Nazi state as they rowed for gold in front of Adolf Hitler.
Against the grim backdrop of the Great Depression, they reaffirmed the American notion that merit, in the end, outweighs birthright. They reminded the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together. And they provided hope that in the titanic struggle that lay just ahead, the ruthless might of the Nazis would not prevail over American grit, determination, and optimism.
And even as it chronicles the boys’ collective achievement, The Boys in the Boat is also the heart warming story of one young man in particular. Cast aside by his family at an early age, abandoned and left to fend for himself, Joe Rantz rows not just for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard, to dare again to trust in others, and to find his way back to a place he can call home.
Get a copy of the book
Memorial Hall Library has many copies of The Boys in the Boat available in several formats. Visit the first floor of the library to pick up a copy from our Andover Reads display. You can also visit one of these links to request a copy of The Boys in the Boat:
- the book in regular print
- the book in large print
- the book in Chinese (激流男孩)
- the young readers adaptation of the book
- the ebook [see our OverDrive how-to sheets to get started or contact us for help]
- the ebook (young readers adaptation) [see our OverDrive how-to sheets to get started or contact us for help]
- the audiobook on CD
- the audiobook on Playaway [what's a Playaway?]
- the audiobook (transferable to mp3 players, iPods, iPod Touches and iPads)
- the audiobook (young readers adaptation) (downloadable to computers and virtually any mobile device) [see our OverDrive how-to sheets to get started or contact us for help]
- the book club kit
1936 Olympics – Facts
The symbol of fire
These Games saw the introduction of the torch relay based on an idea by Dr Carl Diem. A lit torch was carried from Olympia to the site of the Games through seven countries- Greece, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Germany: a total journey of more than 3,000 km.
Television coverage
The 1936 Games were also the first to be broadcast on television. Twenty-five television viewing rooms were set up in the Greater Berlin area, allowing the locals to follow the Games free of charge.
Leni Riefenstahl's official film
"Olympia” is a film that is radically different from all those made about sport before it. The director chose to highlight the aesthetics of the body by filming it from every angle. This film brought about new perspectives in cinematography and still remains without equal.
The prizes
Apart from medals, the athletes received a winner's crown and an oak tree in a pot.
New on the program
For the first time, the program included men's handball and basketball tournaments.
Crowd
More than four million tickets sold.
Twelve years from Berlin to London
As with World War I, the outbreak of hostilities, first in Japan and China and then in Europe, would make it impossible for the Games of the XII and XIII Olympiads to be held in 1940 and 1944 respectively. In fact, it would be 12 years before the Olympic flame would once again burn in an Olympic stadium, in London, in 1948.
Ceremonies
Berlin 1936. Arrival of the Olympic Flame at the Olympic Stadium.
Jesse Owens
The Berlin Games are best remembered for Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt to use them to prove his theories of Aryan racial superiority. As it turned out, the most popular hero of the Games was the African-American sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump.
Official opening of the Games by: Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Lighting the Olympic Flame by: Fritz Schilgen (athletics)
Olympic Oath by: Rudolf Ismayr (weightlifting)
Official Oath by: The officials' oath at an Olympic Summer Games was first sworn in 1972 in Munich.
[source: http://www.olympic.org/berlin-1936-summer-olympics]
More Information on the Olympics, Hitler and Rowing
web sites
- Holocaust Encyclopedia
- Washington Rowing - 100+ Year History
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Online Exhibit: The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936
books
|
|
Rowing and Sculling: The Complete Manual Bill Sayer |
|
Rowing Against the Current: On Learning to Scull at Forty Barry Straus |
|
|
Sculling in a Nutshell: A Polemical Guide to Making Your Boat Go Faster Gordon Hamiton |
|
Essential Sculling Daniel J. Boyne |
|
|
The Book of Rowing D.C. Churbuck |
|
The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936 Susan D. Bachrach |
|
|
Berlin Games: How the Nazis Stole the Olympic Dream Guy Walters |
|
Nazi Games: The Olympics of 1936 David Clay Large |
|
|
Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics Jeremy Schaap |
|
Goebbels: A Biography Peter Longerich |
|
|
The Complete Book of the Olympics David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky |
articles
- Deacon, James. "'A great way to go out:' In their last Olympic pairing, Heddle and McBean row to a gold Medal." Maclean's 5 Aug. 1996: 14+. General Reference Center GOLD. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
- Brodesser-Akner, Claude. "Propaganda Revisited; The making of a Nazi film." New York 9 Aug. 2010. General Reference Center GOLD. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.
- Stanhope, Kate. PBS' American Experience is gearing up for the summer Olympics. The telecast, which centers on the U.S. men's rowing team during the 1936 Games, will coincide with the Summer Olympics. The Hollywood Reporter 11 April 2016 Web 12 April 2016
videos
The Miracle 9 - 1936 Olympic Men's Rowing Team
Daniel James Brown, "The Boys in the Boat"
Maryville Talks Books Interview with Daniel James Brown
http://www.hectv.org/watch/maryville-talks-books/15118-2/15118/
Sights and Sounds: Rowing practice on Lake Lemon with IU Head Coach Steve Peterson and the Hoosier rowers. From te Herald-Times. April 20, 2016
https://www.facebook.com/13675287758/videos/10153604055537759/
Boys in the Boat UW Crew Rowing Practice Seattle 1936
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6Jt_1LSlE
Kent Mitchell moderated a luncheon for members of the Rowing Hall of Fame in Seattle in 2000
http://jamcotimes.com/1936/index.htm
Hear coxswain Bob Moch tell the story of the winning 1936 Olympic race at the National Rowing Foundation luncheon on December 2, 2000
https://soundcloud.com/jamcotimes/bob-moch-1936-olympic-rowing-mens-8
About Daniel James Brown
Daniel James Brown grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. He taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford before becoming a technical writer and editor. He now writes narrative nonfiction books full time. His primary interest as a writer is in bringing compelling historical events to life as vividly and accurately as he can.
He lives in the country outside of Seattle, Washington with his wife, two daughters, and an assortment of cats, dogs, chickens, and honeybees. When he is not writing, he is likely to be birding, gardening, fly fishing, reading American history, or chasing bears away from the bee hives.
http://www.danieljamesbrown.com/
Rowing Events
Watch rowing at these upcoming events. Visit the Essex Rowing Club site for details.
July 30 - Methuen City Sprints in Methuen, MA (all ages from high school to masters), hosted by the Essex Rowing Club
September 24 - Head of the Merrimack (all ages), hosted by the Essex Rowing Club
October 22 & 23 - Head of the Charles Regatta
November 5th - Merrimack Chase (all ages), hosted by the Essex Rowing Club