The Boys in the Boat

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

This is the best book I've read so far this summer. It's a very well-written and researched account of the young men who won the gold medal rowing in the 1936 Olympics.  I really like the way he starts with the childhood of one of the rowers, the way he incorporates how growing up during the Great Depression influenced the young men, the historical build-up of Nazi Germany, and especially his emphasis on the character of each of the young men and how that equipped them to be successful.

Honestly, the only reason I am giving it four stars instead of five is because it made me think of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand in some ways, yet it wasn't quite as well-written as Unbroken (high standard, I know).

My favorite quote from the book, which I think rather summarizes the story and flavor of the writing:

"Every one of them had come from humble origins or been humbled by the ravages of the hard times in which they had grown up. Each in his own way, they had all learned that nothing could be taken for granted in life, that for all their strength and good looks and youth, forces were at work in the world that were greater than they. The challenges they had faced together had taught them humility--the need to subsume their individual egos for the sake of the boat as a whole--and humility was the common gateway through which they were able now to come together and begin to do what they had not been able to do before." (291)