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Title details for Triumph by Jeremy Schaap - Available

Triumph

The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics

by Jeremy Schaap
Michael Kramer
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
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Drawing on unprecedented access to the Owens family, previously unpublished interviews, and exhaustive archival research, Jeremy Schaap transports us to Nazi Germany to weave this dramatic tale.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.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 19, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400123674
      • File size: 221741 KB
      • Duration: 07:41:57

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Schaap's audiobook is well conceived and well made--and its text is perfect for the medium. The biography of Jesse Owens is given enough time to flesh out his character and put a man behind all his achievements, but the story centers on Owens's record-breaking performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Schaap writes clearly, using short words and short sentences. Michael Kramer's no-nonsense delivery greatly enhances the production. Schaap wrote CINDERELLA MAN and has a flair for dramatic moments. Indeed, TRIUMPH seems written with a movie in mind; its last scene is a historical speculation on whether Hitler saluted Owens after the black American won his fourth gold medal. T.F. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 27, 2006
      Written as though the film treatment were already completed, Schaap's chronicle of Jesse Owens's journey to and glorious triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympics is snappy and dramatic, with an eye for the rousing climax, through curiously slight on follow-through. Starting with Owens as the well-feted ex-athlete in the 1950s, Schaap (an ESPN anchor and author of Cinderella Man
      ) flashes back to Owens's childhood in 1920s Cleveland, where junior high coach Charles Riley spotted his astounding physique and near limitless potential for track and field. Owens seems so perfectly made for running and jumping that the following years of ever-increasing athletic and popular success are less exciting than preordained. By the time the "Ebony Antelope" (as one of many adoring newspapermen had anointed him) was ready for Berlin, his success was practically guaranteed. The real drama of Schaap's book, which surprisingly skimps on Owens the person, comes in the politically fractious runup to Berlin (for the ceremony-obsessed Hitler, "a fascist fantasy come true"). While the story has been told many times, Schaap makes good use of his prodigious research and access to the Owens family, even digging up the fact that Owens's oft-repeated claim he was snubbed by Hitler and the Berlin crowd was very likely untrue.

    • Library Journal

      October 1, 2007
      As Hitler's plans for the master race were gaining speed in 1930s Germany, his Aryan ideal was turned upside down by a single American. Although Jesse Owens's impact at the 1936 Olympics is now part of our national legacy, the story of how he got to the Olympics and how he was able to achieve his success have largely been overlooked. Schaap ("Cinderella Man") provides an enthralling narrative of the many athletic events that led to Owens's accomplishments. He describes how the Nazis tried to prevent all nonwhite athletes from competing, and yet Owens's German opponents were remarkably supportive and helpful. Michael Kramer provides a measured and understated narration. Patrons interested in history and sports will enjoy this audiobook. Recommended.Ray Vignovich, West Des Moines P.L.

      Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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