Penguin Audio – Rosepoint Publishing

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown #AudiobookReview #bookclub #TBT

Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

in Olympic Games

Nominee for Readers’ Favorite History & Biography (2013)

Book Club at the Y - February selection

Count this one as another I’d have never chosen on my own, but another that I’m glad to be part of a book club that introduces the reader to epic groundbreaking award winning titles. Who knew you could get excited about a bunch of college guys rowing for the old alma mater? What if you could throw in historical depths of the Depression, the dust bowl, and Europe possibly facing another war?

And how timely is that—while we are busy watching the Winter Olympics!

My Thoughts:

I don’t usually read many non-fiction books, unless memoirs, or historical catastrophes, and must admit to favoring the Winter Olympics over the Summer Olympics. This narrative caught my attention early on though with the focus on Joe Rantz, a boy literally left on his own when his destitute blended family viewed him as an extra mouth to feed they could ill afford. It is basically Joe’s POV that we hear throughout the book.

I love it when I go into the story of a sport I’ve never really noticed nor cared about and end by not only enjoying the narrative but researching it later. Joe Rantz did indeed have a horrendous childhood, scraped and scrabbled along until he found himself on the University of Washington rowing team. (A roof over his head and food in his belly.)

Joe was strong and healthy. It is during his years at UW that he meets Joyce who becomes his primary cheerleader and while pursuing her own goals, gently leaves him to his.

Not all of the young men on the team were composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, or farmers, however. The University of Washington’s crew was never expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast but it wasn’t long before the coach became aware he had a special group of young men. His goal was to defeat the East Coast teams and possibly head to the Summer Olympics in Berlin, 1936.

Of course, if at all possible, I listen to the audiobook and I must say narrator Edward Herrmann did a fine job of relaying the emotions, the turmoil, and the drama of the story.

Many thanks to our local well-stocked library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own as well as my interpretation of the consensus of the book club participants.

Book Club Thoughts

The publisher provides pointed questions for discussion at the book club. Among issues specifically examined were:

►How did Joe Rantz’ early childhood experiences shape his trust or mistrust of others? Did that experience influence his reluctance to bond?

He learned not to trust. Anyone. Including early on, his teammates.

►How did the coach handle the press and why?

It was thought there were several reasons, for one, he didn’t want the other schools to know the growing prowess of his team. He didn’t want the boys growing an ego over their wins and kept the boys guessing who was the weak link (each thinking it was themselves).

►How does the story of the ’36 Olympics compare to today’s?

The time frame of the story encapsulated several horrendous global calamities, not the least of which was the growing power of Hitler (and the possibility of war) while back home the Depression—the failure of banks, loss of jobs, disastrous weather, and few governmental services or support.

Several of the women noted they were bored with lengthy descriptions of the boats, components, and vocabulary for the sport, while acknowledging there will always be global conflicts, politically as well as atmospheric.

It can be noted that George Clooney directed a movie that was released in 2023 by the same name that reportedly omitted much of the personal stories of the individual teammates and focused instead on the university experience and the Olympics. I haven’t had a chance to view that film yet, but plan to if and when it comes to Netflix.

How did the Book Club vote?

Book Club Rating

Book Details:

Publisher: Penguin Audio
Narrator: Edward Herrmann
Publication Date: June 4, 2013

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Daniel James Brown grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Diablo Valley College, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. He taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford before becoming a technical writer and editor. He now writes narrative nonfiction books full time. His primary interest as a writer is in bringing compelling historical events to life vividly and accurately.

He and his wife live in the country outside of Seattle, Washington, with an assortment of cats, dogs, chickens, and honeybees. When he isn’t writing, he is likely to be birding, gardening, fly fishing, reading American history, or chasing bears away from the beehives.

Midnight on the Potomac by Scott Ellsworth #AudiobookReview #ThrowbackThursday #USCivilWarHistory

Midnight on the Potomac by Scott Ellsworth

The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the ReBirth of America

Best History

in History of the US Confederacy

Book Blurb:

From the author of The Ground Breaking, longlisted for the National Book Award, comes a riveting saga of the last year of the Civil War—and a revealing new account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Told with a page-turning pace, New York Times bestselling author and historian Scott Ellsworth has written the most compelling new book about the Civil War in years. Focusing on the last, desperate months of the war, when the outcome was far from certain, Midnight on the Potomac is a story of titanic battles, political upheaval, and the long-forgotten Confederate terror war against the loyal citizens of the North. Taking us behind the scenes in the White House, along the battlefronts in Virginia, and into the conspiracies of spies and secret agents, Lincoln walks these pages, as do Grant and Sherman. But so do common soldiers, runaway slaves, and an unknown but intrepid female war correspondent named Lois Adams. Rarely, if ever, has a book about the Civil War featured such a rich and diverse cast of characters.

Midnight on the Potomac will also shatter some long-held myths. For more than a century and a half, the Lincoln assassination has been portrayed as the sole brainchild of a disgruntled, pro-South actor. But based on both obscure contemporary accounts and decades of long-ignored scholarship, Ellsworth reveals that for nearly one year before the tragic events at Ford’s Theatre, John Wilkes Booth had been working closely with agents of the Confederate Secret Service. And the real Booth is far from the one we’ve long been presented with.

Deeply researched yet captivatingly written, Midnight on the Potomac is a new kind of book about the Civil War. In it you will read about the Confederate attempt to burn down New York City, how Lincoln almost lost the presidency, about the Rebel general who nearly captured Washington, and how thousands of enslaved African Americans freed themselves—and helped secure their nation’s survival. In an age of deep political division such as our own, Scott Ellsworth’s book is an eloquent and gripping testament to the courage, grit, and greatness of the American people.

My Review:

Well, okay, we have a book here that does its best to deliver many new stories delivered to the reader, maybe in a recliner and smoke-filled room with a small tumbler of brandy nearby. Enjoy.

Ah, the good ole boys and their stories.

So much to digest here, so many scenes and scenarios, historical figures, as well as a timeline under that bridge. Stories I’d not heard before, theories not considered (Booth’s considerable success as an actor and then his connections and clandestine meetings with Confederate sympathizers.

There is an awful lot of territory covered here, but less on a few of the larger focal points and more information on little known men and women heavily contributing to the time and effort, particularly women—and African Americans.

It is the first I’ve read on the more human details of Lincoln, his children, the battle scenes, the political scene in Washington—with the huge influx of free and escaped slaves—to the conflict within his party and the turmoil with his generals, as well as his death.

You can’t deny the evidence of a ton of research here into all the behind-the-scenes activities. Of course, I might still question some of the interpretation. I have, more than once, wondered how in the world were some of these major life-changing outcomes managed when it seemed to be handled in general chaos. There’s a military term for that.

On the whole, it was interesting and kept the pace moving, even at the point of slight confusion when it switched topics. It was well written but in this particular instance, I might have enjoyed it more if I’d read it rather than listened to the audiobook, as the voice came across a bit monotone, giving it more a “text” than story sound.

Many thanks to my local library for providing me with the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. The thoughts expressed here are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars