The #1 New York Times bestselling story of an American triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, now in a mass-market format to tie into Daniel James Brown’s new book coming from Viking in May. Berlin, 1936. The finals of the 8-oared rowing medal race. Germany, Italy, USA. The American Olympic Committee would proclaim in its official report that the final twenty-seven seconds of the race made it ‚the greatest international rowing championship ever held in the history of the world.‘ The American boat had touched the finish line sixth tenths of a second ahead of the Italian boat, a full second ahead of the German boat. Hitler turned and left the balcony of the boathouse, in a silent rage. The American boat had beaten all the odds, from the Depression to Hitler. So much more than a sports story, The Boys in the Boat is a portrait of an era, a celebration of a remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary young man’s personal quest for self-respect and acceptance, set against the mid 1930s-when millions of Americans lost their homes, tens of millions lost their livelihoods, and hope was elusive. The members of the University of Washington varsity crew were sons of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, and they defeat first the sons of bankers and senators rowing for elite eastern universities, then the sons of British aristocrats rowing for Oxford and Cambridge, and finally the Aryan sons of the Nazi state rowing for Adolf Hitler and all that he represents. Their stunning victories give America faith that ordinary folk can still sometimes prevail over long-established privileges and customs, and that the ruthless might of the Nazis will not prevail over American grit, determination, and optimism. Story Locale: Seattle, Washington area
ISBN: 978-0-14-313696-5
