Video Description: Go behind the screen and inside the pages of history as author Daniel James Brown gives us the back-story of his compelling New York Times’ Best Seller “The Boys in the Boat” – a tale of the countless challenges facing the U.S. eight-oar rowing team during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Now a major motion picture directed by George Clooney, the story almost never came to light.

Brown shares how he happened upon the amazing story of a rowing crew from Washington state through conversations with a neighbor’s father who had been a member of the team. Throughout his rich and compelling narrative, Brown drops what he calls informational “treasures” that transport the reader to Depression-era USA and Nazi Germany.

This interview takes you back in time as Brown describes the six-year journey he took to find all those “treasures” and write the story that reveals the heart and dedication of not just the nine boys in the boat, but the people of that entire generation. Learn the history behind the movie, “The Boys in the Boat.”

• For Discussion: Have students discuss the “lucky circumstances” that led Mr. Brown to this story and how the story was virtually unknown until he wrote the book. What does that tell them about how history is recorded? How might it matter who is left to tell the story after it occurs? Would where they are or the type of person they are affect their ability to get the story told?
• For Discussion: Have students respond to Mr. Brown’s perspective on getting the research done before getting started on the writing. As students write history reports or engage in research in other subjects, do they use a similar approach or a different one? Why or why not?
• Activity Idea: Provide the video to students engaging in independent projects on World War II, the rise of Naziism, and other related topics.
• Activity Idea: Use the video as inspiration for an activity where students interview an older adult in their life about events in their life when they were the same age as the student. Have students record their interview and create a video to share what they learned.