Read this as part of the 'One Maryland, One Book' program sponsored by MD libraries. Wasn't sure when I started it whether I would like it. But it picked up and I totally enjoyed it. Details the crew of the 1936 Olympic 8-man rowing crew from Washington (State) University. Absolutely amazing the struggles each went through during the Depression. Covers a lot of info re: rowing, etc. Spotlight on one of the crew members, Joe Rantz, and his life. Being abandoned by his family and left to fend for himself, how he put himself through college, the struggles with self-image, and their amazing win at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Berlin. Some background into the Nazi state in Germany at the time ties in beautifully, but not the major focus. Great read!

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Books like this are the reason I'm so thankful for book groups! I never would have picked up a nonfiction sports story for myself, but it was the book of the month for our group and I loved it! It's as much about the character of those in the American west as it is about crew, and the history of Nazi propaganda related to the Olympics is disturbing and fascinating.

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If someone told me that I would rave about a non-fiction book on the topic of rowing, I would have totally dismissed their comment. At least that is the case before I read "The Boys in the Boat". Daniel Brown's book is a masterpiece of story telling that brings the history of the Great Depression and the life of an abandoned child, Joe Rantz, into exacting focus. By the book's end, it was as if Joe, his fellow oarsmen, his coach, and his boat-maker mentor were family. I felt, too, that I swallowed the topsoil that choked families during those dust bowl years and that I swung from ropes holding a jackhammer to build the Great Coulee Dam. It was fascinating, too, to gain insight into the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the role it played as a propaganda tool for Hitler. One of the great lessons of history is that we should carefully guard against authoritarians who foster a cult of personality. This was true then and now. I could not put this book down. It is one of those rare books that I know will always be a part of me.

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This was a really good read. I loved the descriptions of the work on the Grand Coulee Dam and the "nail biting" race at the end - even though you know how it ends!

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I know nothing about the sport of rowing, but this book had a narrative that kept me excited about the people and the races.

It also went into a few of the sneaky tricks that the Nazi's pulled to try and ensure their win. Too Bad!!

I absolutely loved this book and would give it 10 start!

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In 1936, nine working-class boys from the University of Washington went to the Berlin Olympics in a quest for the gold medal. Their sport: rowing, a sport of which George Yeoman Pocock said, "That is the formula for endurance and success: rowing with the heart and the head as well as physical strength." It is an emotional, mental, and physical sport which, in this particular case, asks that nine human beings be in perfect tune with each other.

Author Daniel James Brown does an excellent job of putting his story into the context of the world stage, a time in which Hitler was determined to become master of the world-- and also a time when the world was still in the grip of the Depression.

At the heart of The Boys in the Boat is Joe Rantz of the University of Washington rowing team. At the age of ten, he was abandoned by his parents. Joe's father was willing to follow the lead of his second wife, a woman who decided that there were too many mouths to feed and that this child had to go. At one point, she told him, "Make your own life, Joe. Stay out of ours." Brown builds his story from the boys' journals and vivid memories, and it's a true Cinderella story. These boys were competing in an elite sport normally thought of as belonging to the privileged rich of the East Coast.

Often compared to Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken, I found The Boys in the Boat more in tune with another of her books, Seabiscuit: An American Legend, with its emphasis on sport, the Depression, and a fascinating cast. As much as I savored the stories of the boys on the University of Washington rowing team, I also appreciated the in-depth look at the sport of rowing itself. I never knew how popular it was in the 1930s or how demanding it was.

If you're in the mood for a thrilling, eye-opening, often heart-wrenching, slice of history, I highly recommend The Boys in the Boat.

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The book read like a documentary. I only got about half way through, and then I decided to watch the movie. The subject interested me, because my son was on the crew team in high school.I don't think the book captured my attention like the movie did, though.

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I was hesitant at first whether I would enjoy a novel about rowing, but it was fantastic.

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The author weaves a wonderful story of the sport of rowing and at the same time, relates the historical events of the same time period. I enjoyed the book very much.

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