The Boys in the Boat is a true story based on the struggles and sacrifices made by the University of Washington rowing team to compete at rowing at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men’s eight.
Joseph Sutton-Holcomb from The Seattle Times writes that author Daniel James Brown got the idea to write this book when his neighbor Judy Willman said that her father, Joe Rantz, was a fan of his works and wanted to have a conversation with the author. That conversation with Joe Rantz about life during the Great Depression led to an in-depth chat about his time as a rower at the University of Washington.
