The Boys in the Boat | Daniel James Brown | Pan Macmillan

‘I really can’t rave enough about this book… I read the last fifty pages with white knuckles, and the last twenty-five with tears in my eyes.’
— David Laskin, author of The Children’s Blizzard and The Long Way Home

Cast aside by his family at an early age, abandoned and left to fend for himself in the woods of Washington State, young Joe Rantz turns to rowing as a way of escaping his past.

What follows is an extraordinary journey. Joe and eight other working-class boys exchange the sweat and dust of life in 1930s America for the promise of glory at the heart of Hitler’s Berlin. Stroke by stroke, a remarkable young man strives to regain his shattered self-regard, to dare again to trust in others — and to find his way back home.

Told against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the spectacle of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat is narrative non-fiction of the first order — a personal story full of lyricism and unexpected beauty that rises above the grand sweep of history, and captures instead the purest essence of what it means to be alive.

Key Themes

• Triumph against the odds — nine working-class boys from Depression-era America taking on the world’s elite rowing teams — and defying every expectation placed upon them
• Resilience and self-belief — Joe Rantz’s deeply personal journey from abandonment and isolation to trust, belonging, and the discovery of his own extraordinary strength
• The power of a team — the transformative experience of eight men rowing as one — the extraordinary discipline, synchrony, and mutual trust that makes a crew truly great
• The 1936 Berlin Olympics — the gripping backdrop of the Nazi Games — one of history’s most politically charged sporting spectacles — and the American crew’s improbable bid for gold
• The Great Depression and 1930s America — a vivid portrait of hardship, resilience, and the hunger for hope that defined a generation of working-class Americans

Awards and Recognition

— Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
— International bestseller

About the Author

Daniel James Brown is an American author and writing instructor. The Boys in the Boat is his second book and became an international bestseller, later adapted into a major motion picture.

Author: Daniel James Brown
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: January 2014
Format: Paperback
Genre: Narrative Non-Fiction / Sports Biography / History
ISBN: 9781447210986