Author Jeremy Schaap chronicles the rise of Olympic champion Jesse Owens from his poverty-stricken childhood in Alabama to his winning of four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.
The book is divided into 3 sections. The first details Owens' birth to Alabama sharecroppers who escaped racism and poverty by moving to Ohio when Jesse was 9 years old through to his becoming a high school and, ultimately, a collegiate track champion at Ohio State.
The second section deals with the militaristic rise in Germany fueled by fanatical Nazism and how preparations for the 1936 Summer Olympic Games were carried out under the guise of a sophisticated propaganda campaign.
The third and final section goes into great detail regarding the days of the Berlin Games themselves and the daily activities of Owens as he pursued his Olympic dreams.
This genre of book, an historical sports biography, is one of my favorite types. As a result, I found this book quite interesting. It provides details into the life of Jesse Owens, showing him to be an amazingly athletic Olympic champion but not as a man without fault.
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