In The Boys in the Boat Daniel James Brown tells the tale of the men who sought and eventually won the 1936 Olympic Gold medal for 8-man rowing. While the author does that thing I dislike in non-fiction books of pretending he can provide point of view and individual thought of the people and events depicted, if you make the conscious decision to just read it as if it were a novel you will be rewarded with an interesting and entertaining experience. The boys in this particular boat were crew from the University of Washington and as such were primarily the sons of farmers, loggers, and the like.I recommend the book as an interesting read but would be a bit wary of offering it as unbiased non-fiction. Give it a try and form your own opinion.
