In 1936, against a backdrop of swastikas flying and storm troopers looming, an African American son of sharecroppers set three world records and won an unprecedented four gold medals, single-handedly crushing Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy. The story of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympic Games is that of a high-profile athlete giving a performance that transcends sports. But it is also the intimate and complex tale of the courage of one remarkable man. Drawing on unprecedented access to the Owens family, previously unpublished interviews, and exhaustive archival research, Jeremy Schaap transports us to Nazi Germany to weave this dramatic tale. From the start, American participation in the games was controversial. A boycott, based on reports of Nazi hostility to Jews, was afoot, but it was thwarted by the president of the American Olympic Committee. At the games themselves the plots and intrigues continued: Owens was befriended by a German rival, broad jumper Luz Long, who helped Owens win the gold medal at his own expense. Two Jewish sprinters were, at the last moment, denied the chance to compete for the United States out of misguided politeness to the Nazi hosts. And a myth was born that Hitler himself had snubbed Owens. Like Neal Bascomb's The Perfect Mile and David Margolick's Beyond Glory, Triumph captures this momentous episode in sports, and world, history in a nuanced yet page-turning narrative full of drama, suspense, and color.
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"This is an excellent biography of the man Donovan Bailey called the "Greatest Sprinter of all time". It is well researched, includes quotations from the great sports writers of the day such as Paul Gallico and Grantland Rice, very readable and covers Owens weaknesses and failures as well as his victories. If you have any interest in the Olympics, sprinting, or The Third Reich, this is well worth reading." — Gordon (4 out of 5 stars)
"This is an excellent biography of the man Donovan Bailey called the "Greatest Sprinter of all time". It is well researched, includes quotations from the great sports writers of the day such as Paul Gallico and Grantland Rice, very readable and covers Owens weaknesses and failures as well as his victories. If you have any interest in the Olympics, sprinting, or The Third Reich, this is well worth reading."
Michael Kramer's no-nonsense delivery greatly enhances the production.
" A good solid recounting of Jessie Owens life (to a lesser extent) and his participation in the 1936 Olympics (to a greater extent). The book also has some interesting views into Nazi Germany and Hitler at the time. It is interesting and certainly worth the read if you are interested in Owens, but it is not exceptional "
" I'm a runner so I have always found Jesse Owens particularly interesting. A great read about a different time. I wish track and field could be what is was then. "
" I'm not a history buff, so this book brought to light a lot of things I didn't know. However, it kind of repeated itself a lot, and just abruptly quit at the end. "
" An excellent biopic on the story of Jesse Owens and what actually took place at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Jeremy Schaap's style is both engaging and informative. This was a well-researched read that's worth the read of anyone interested in the history of the Olympics or in sport. An excellent addition to my sports history library! "
" A good read that both profiles the life of Jesse Owens and his rise to become an olympian and the politics of Hitler's Olympics. "
" Good book but I was not that interested in its subject. "
" not really that interesting or very good. At least it was short. "
" This book was more than a biography about the athlete. It was about someone who was the best in the world at what he did, and still was considered inferior because of his race. "
" Really intriguing telling of the story. "
" Excellent account of the lead-up to the 1936 Berlin Olympics "
" Great book about the good guys winning and athletes celebrating the Olympic spirit. "
" Interesting story. A+ for content and Jesse Owens' running. :) "
" interesting, but I'd rather see a History channel documentary on him. I want to SEE him run! "
" i'm not a sports fan and wouldn't have picked this book up if it hadn't been work-related, but i really enjoyed reading this. schaap took on a larger than life figure and really drew him out on the page. very well researched and fluid writing. "
" This wa an excellent look into the life of the greatest American Olympian ever. Both his time at the Olympics and also the reality of life in the early to mid 1900's as a black man. "
" Interesting to compare Mr. Owens to today's athletes and what they do in track and field. Mr. Owens is an American hero! "
" This book took me forever to finish -- some of it was interesting, and I don't know a lot about Jesse Owens, but it wasn't really an in depth look at his life and it wasn't a page turner either. "
" Schapp does a great job to tell a story of a true American. "
Jeremy Schaap is an American sportswriter, television reporter, and author. Schaap is a six-time Emmy award winner for his work on ESPN’s E:60, SportsCenter and Outside the Lines. He is a regular contributor to Nightline and ABC World News Tonight and has been published in Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, Time, Parade, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. A native and resident of New York City, Schaap is the author of Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History, a New York Times bestseller, and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics.
Michael Kramer is an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, and recipient of a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award. He is also an actor and director in the Washington, DC, area, where he is active in the area’s theater scene and has appeared in productions at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Kennedy Center, and Theater J.
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