The Boys In The Boat

An Epic Journey to the Heart of Hitler's Berlin

Daniel James Brown author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Pan Macmillan

Published:2nd Jan '14

£10.99

Available for immediate dispatch.

The Boys In The Boat cover

An epic true-life journey to the heart of Hitler's Berlin.

An epic true-life journey, as ordinary working-class Americans find their way into to the heart of Hitler's Berlin – and the 1936 Olympics.

Now a major motion picture, directed by George Clooney.

From the Great Depression to Nazi Germany, The Boys in the Boat is the astonishing true story of the 1936 American men's eight rowing team on their quest for Olympic gold.

'It is impossible not to get wrapped up in the emotion' – The Times


It is considered one of the most difficult sports in the world. For Joe Rantz, it might be his only choice.

Cast aside by his family at an early age, Joe was abandoned, left to fend for himself in the woods of Washington State. Like so many, he had to work his way through college. The rowing team offered money – and a home.

An extraordinary journey follows, as Joe and eight other working-class boys exchange the sweat and dust of life in 1930s America for the promise of glory on the team – and at the Berlin Olympics, in the heart of Hitler’s Germany.

With the weight of history on his shoulders, stroke by stroke, Joe strives to regain his shattered self-regard, to dare again to trust in others – and to find his way back home.

Rising above the grand sweep of history, Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat is a personal story of unexpected beauty, capturing the purest essence of what it means to be alive.

'A moving, enlightening and gripping tale' – Financial Times

Chariots of Fire – with oars [Brown’s] descriptions of the key races are exciting and dramatic, and it is impossible not to get wrapped up in the emotion * The Times *
Like Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit and Michael Lewis’s Moneyball before it, The Boys in the Boat has all the ingredients for a film adaptation . . . a moving, enlightening and gripping tale. * Financial Times *
Daniel James Brown has written a robust, emotional snapshot of an era, a book you will recommend to your best friends. -- James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys, The Imperial Cruise
A fine-grained portrait of the Depression era . . . inspiring * Guardian *
The Boys in the Boat is a triumph of great writing matched with a magnificent story. Daniel James Brown strokes the keyboard like a master oarsman, blending power and grace to propel readers toward a heart-pounding finish. -- Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La and Frozen in Time.
For this nautical version of Chariots of Fire, Brown crafts an evocative, cinematic prose … studded with engrossing explanations of rowing technique and strategy, exciting come-from-behind race scenes, and the requisite hymns to "mystic bands of trust and affection" forged on the water. * Publishers Weekly *
A story this breathtaking demands an equally compelling author, and Brown does not disappoint. The narrative rises inexorably, with the final 50 pages blurring by with white-knuckled suspense as these all-American underdogs pull off the unimaginable. * The Seattle Times *

  • Short-listed for William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2013 (UK)
  • Short-listed for James Tait Black Prize for Biography 2014 (UK)

ISBN: 9781447210986

Dimensions: 196mm x 131mm x 26mm

Weight: 284g

416 pages