Customer Reviews

The Wonder Crew: The Untold Story of a Coach, Navy Rowing, and Olympic Immortality

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I'm a bit of a rowing geek, so I enjoyed this book. The background on rowing at the start of the 20th century, and the tradition of Navy crew and the Glendon family, inform anyone interested in the history of US rowing. The facts are quite well researched and interesting.

The writing disappointed me. Ms. Saint Sing tries too hard to make nearly every subtopic epic and amazing. Her language is often superlative without any real support in context or description for the superlatives. It's a good story, but I prefer rowing narrative that is more understated and lets the reader come up with his or her own emotions and conclusions.

For some examples of that kind of narrative, David Halberstam's The Amateurs is widely acclaimed and my favorite rowing book. Dan Boyne's historical works, including The Red Rose Crew and Kelly: A Father, A Son, An American Quest, are very fine works as well. Boyne conveys subtle points of rowing culture as well as broader points of social history without the grand overstatement of Saint Sing.

The Wonder Crew magnificently covers the story of the coach and crew of the US Navy Academy in the early 20th century, their commitment to perfection in the art of rowing, and their pursuit of excellence in the 1920 Olympics where they upset the old order. The book is masterful and the story affirms how coaches, teachers, mentors often have an impact far beyond their immediate sphere.

The Wonder Crew is simply put--a great read. It is well written, historically interesting, and brings together politics, sports, WWI and WWII. The Golden Age of Sports is at its best in Saint Sing's masterfully written book. Rowers will love it and anyone just looking for something new and different will like it too!