Ocean State Libraries

"Berlin 1936 takes the reader through the sixteen days of the Olympiad, describing the events in the German capital through the eyes of a select cast of characters--Nazi leaders and foreign diplomats, sportsmen and journalists, writers and socialites, nightclub owners and jazz musicians. While the events in the Olympic stadium, such as when an American tourist breaks through the security and manages to kiss Hitler, provide the focus and much of the...

"In perhaps one of the most bizarre Nazi schemes to keep a Jewish athlete from succeeding in sport, Hitler's National Socialist Party finds itself at odds with the international sports community after they attempt to ban Jews from the German Olympic team. Gretel Bergmann is the best female high jumper in the world, but is relentlessly sabotaged by the Nazis as they stop at nothing to keep her from a gold medal because she is Jewish. Gretel valiantly...

At the 1936 Olympics, against a backdrop of swastikas and goose-stepping storm troopers, an African-American son of sharecroppers won a staggering four gold medals and single-handedly demonstrated that Hitler's myth of Aryan supremacy was a lie. The story of Jesse Owens at the Berlin games is that of an athletic performance that transcends sports. It is also the intimate and complex tale of one remarkable man's courage. Drawing on unprecedented access...