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  • Triumph

  • The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics
  • By: Jeremy Schaap
  • Narrated by: Michael Kramer
  • Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)
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Triumph cover art

Triumph

By: Jeremy Schaap
Narrated by: Michael Kramer
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Summary

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Drawing on unprecedented access to the Owens family, previously unpublished interviews, and exhaustive archival research, Jeremy Schaap transports us to Nazi Germany to weave this dramatic tale.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, Triumph captures this momentous episode in sports - and - world, history in a nuanced yet page-turning narrative full of drama, suspense, and color.

©2007 Jeremy Schaap (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Snappy and dramatic, with an eye for the rousing climax....Schaap makes good use of his prodigious research." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Triumph

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting and intriguing insight to a very different era.

incredible lives people have JC Owens was no exception, a legend and sporting hero. Easy listening even the strong American accent didn't deter me.

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  • Overall
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Gold Star

Good narration, easybon the ear. Tells the story of Jessie Owens and the Berlin Olympics under the looming menace of the very brief period of the Nazi's 'master race' . Tells his and those close to him story inba consice format and without much personal opinion

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