Rating: *****
Tags: Lang:en
Summary
The #1 New York Times–bestselling
story about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany and now
the inspiration for the PBS documentary “The Boys of
‘36”
For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths
of the Depression comes an irresistible story about beating the
odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the
improbable, intimate account of how nine working-class boys
from the American West showed the world at the 1936 Olympics in
Berlin what true grit really meant. It was an unlikely quest from the start. With a team
composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers,
the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team was
never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and
Great Britain, yet they did, going on to shock the world by
defeating the German team rowing for Adolf Hitler. The
emotional heart of the tale lies with Joe Rantz, a teenager
without family or prospects, who rows not only to regain his
shattered self-regard but also to find a real place for himself
in the world. Drawing on the boys’ own journals and vivid
memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, Brown has
created an unforgettable portrait of an era, a celebration of a
remarkable achievement, and a chronicle of one extraordinary
young man’s personal quest. **