Justin Tate's Reviews > The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

An immersive biography about a group of rowing Olympians who beat the German team who had a suspicious home country advantage under Hitler's rule. It seems Brown had access to a dazzling number of historical documents, including diaries of the rowers. Other details were likely his own conjecture based on what must have been unimaginable hours of research. I was wowed by how he took all that information and packaged it as a digestible narrative.

All that said, not even the world's greatest writer is going to get me interested in rowing. There is a fascinating context around the United States whipping Nazi Germany during the Olympics in this particular event, but we already know how that's turning out from the title. Furthermore, given the extent of Hitler's crimes and all the bloodshed of the World Wars, this little boating competition seems rather insignificant. It's still history, though, and I'm thrilled the book has been written. It's just not a piece of history that is fascinating to me personally. This is of no fault of the author. There's tons of history I obsess over which I know others wouldn't care about. Maybe Brown could have done more to showcase the social impact of this rowing competition. But doing so might run the risk of inflating facts, which could be a far greater sin.

I would say you don't have to be a fan of rowing to appreciate this book, but for me that isn't true. The "characters" were not particularly captivating or multi-dimensional. There's also a lot of boys in that boat so it's easy to get them mixed up. One's identity seemed to be totally wrapped up in the fact that he liked to eat a lot. He's the only one I remember with any clarity, and it's only because that one detail was repeated so often. Most could be summarized by the general fact that they were young and strong.

If I were personally connected to this sport, I would have likely been more interested in the minor (sometimes cruelly minor) details about the boys involved. Without that, though, this was an incredibly tough read. But I got through it, fueled by the dedication I have to my book club and the great narrator who did the audiobook. Maybe I deserve a medal too?