Skip to content
FREE SHIPPING ON ALL DOMESTIC ORDERS $35+
FREE SHIPPING ON ALL US ORDERS $35+
The Triumph of the Amateurs: The Rise, Ruin, and Banishment of Professional Rowing in the Gilded Age - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

The Triumph of the Amateurs: The Rise, Ruin, and Banishment of Professional Rowing in the Gilded Age

Availability:
Out of stock
Sold out
$28.95
$28.95 - $28.95
$28.95
$25.99
$25.99 - $25.99
$25.99
The Triumph of the Amateurs is the story of the lost world or professional rowing in America, a sport that attracted crowds of thousands, widespread betting, and ultimately corruption that foretold its doom. It centers on the colorful careers of two New York City Irish boys, the Biglin brothers John and Barney, now long forgotten save for Thomas Eakins's portraits of them in their shell. If the bestseller The Boys in the Boat portrayed the good guys of the U.S.’s 1936 Olympic crew, the Biglins, along with their colleagues and successors, were the Bad Boys in the Boat. Rascals abounded on and off the water, where rowdy fans often outdid modern soccer thugs in violence, betting was rampant—as was fixing—and spectators in the tens of thousands came out to see it all. The Triumph of the Amateurs traces the sport from its rise in the years before the Civil War on through the Gilded Age to its scandalous demise and eventual transition into a purely amateur sport. In addition, Barney Biglin’s later career as holder of sinecures offers a colorful glimpse into late 19th-century New York City political corruption. Illustrated with 40 black and white and color illustrations, including Thomas Eakins's famous paintings of the Biglin brothers rowing on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia in 1872.

ISBN-13: 9781493052769

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers - Inc.

Publication Date: 04-01-2021

Pages: 304

Product Dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

William Lanouette was a journalist on the staffs of Newsweek, The National Observer, and National Journal and was Washington Correspondent for The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. His freelance writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Civilization, The New York Herald Tribune, Scientific American, The Washington Post, and The Wilson Quarterly. He has reported on rowing for Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, The National Observer, and Smithsonian, as well as for the NAAO (now US Rowing) publications Rowing Guide and Rowing News. He first rowed at Fordham College and the New York Athletic Club, and continued the sport with the London School of Economics Boat Club (University of London), the Potomac Boat Club, and the San Diego Rowing Club. In a second career, he was a Senior Analyst for Energy and Science Issues at the US Government Accountability Office, the investigative agency for Congress. His first book, Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilard, the Man Behind the Bomb,was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year. He lives in San Diego.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"An intriguing, deep dive into the history of American rowing, populated by larger than life characters engaged in raucous deeds of derring-do punctuated by moments of timeless grace. A must-read for anyone interested in the roots of the modern sport.” — Daniel James Brown, author of The Boys in the Boat "Sport can be a diversion, but it is also a mirror into society. William Lanouette’s rich, entertaining history of the rise and fall of professional rowing is a rollicking story of a lost age, but also a tale of greed and class warfare with timeless meaning." — Evan Thomas, author of John Paul Jones, Being Nixon, and First: Sandra Day O’Connor. "The Triumph of the Amateurs is better than brilliant. It is stunningly amazing and sweepingly fascinating. — Doug Looney, former senior writer for Sports Illustrated "There was a time when rowing was one of the most popular sports in the land, and then it almost entirely went away. This hidden history of the sport is a must for any book shelf. You will learn about the sport, but you will also learn untold angles of the era when it ruled supreme." — Dave Zirin, Sports Editor, The Nation "Rowing historian Bill Lanouette has skillfully detailed the fascinating and oft forgotten period in American rowing history when the pros were on their way out and the amateurs were on the rise. A must-have for every rower's bookshelf." — Dan Boyne, author of The Red Rose Crew, Essential Sculling, and The Seven Seat "William Lanouette has written a wonderful gem of a book, both about the colorful rowers, the Biglin boys, but also about the artist Thomas Eakins, himself an avid rower. Triumph of the Amateurs opens a nostalgic window onto a magical time and place." — Kai Bird is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and the Executive Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at City University of New York’s Graduate Center.  "For us oarsmen who live in the age of baseball, football and basketball, a question remains: how did rowing develop in the United States and why has it not captured the enthusiasm of the public? William Lanouette has provided an excellent answer by examining the history of American rowing in the 19th century, its struggle with professionalism, and its slow growth in popularity from the elite four-mile Harvard-Yale race to a whole variety of lesser and more accessible competitions across the country which, at last, is beginning to include Black Americans athletes." — Nicholas Daniloff, Riverside Boat Cub, Cambridge, MA "This book is a great read. I learned something new with every page. It's a colorful and surprising story about our sport." — Charley Butt, Men's Crew Coach, Harvard University “The Triumph of the Amateurs is an exceptionally well written and well researched history of early American Rowing. The description of our American and Canadian professional scullers is vivid; reckless characters looking for fame and fortune. The demise of professional sculling and the blossoming of collegiate and amateur rowing is described in exquisite detail. In the process we get a clear picture of post-civil war American culture. I have never read a more compelling book on this era." — Steve Gladstone, Men's coach, Yale University

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Spectacle Caught in Time ix

Part 1 Rowing for Money and Fame

Chapter 1 No Irish Need Apply-Except to Row 3

England v. Ireland 6

Harvard v. Hibernia 8

Chapter 2 From the Nile to New York 15

Rowing through the Ages 15

Civic Pride and Profit 22

Chapter 3 The Biglins Take to the Boats 27

The Biglin Family 27

Civil War 31

Winning Ways 34

Too Damned Good 40

Back in the Money 42

The Biglin Style 44

Chapter 4 The Rise of Professional Rowing 47

Double Your Money? 49

Betting and Cheating 50

Boating Innovations 52

Twain on the River 56

Chapter 5 Women and Minorities 61

Monongahela Maids 62

Harlem Hijinks 65

A Few Good Oarsmen of Color 69

Chapter 6 The Biglins Challenge the World 73

Halifax 73

Saratoga 77

Chapter 7 Spectacle on the Schuylkill 81

Pair-Oared Championship 81

Part 2 John and Barney

Chapter 8 John as Coach and Curmudgeon 87

Coaches Cash In 87

Amherst 92

Dartmouth 96

Chapter 9 John as Competitor and Champ 99

John and Ellis as Rivals: Nyack and Springfield 100

Saint John and Halifax 106

John and Ellis as Rascals: Red Wing and Rockaway 110

Centennial Conspiracies and Conflicts 113

His Last Season 119

Chapter 10 Barney and Blarney 123

Politics and Patronage 123

Assemblyman 127

Hayes Sweeps Up 129

Alderman 130

President Arthur 132

Political Baggage 134

Part 3 Ruin and Revival

Chapter 11 Courtney v. Hanlan 141

Three Races,Three Disgraces 149

Chapter 12 Courtney v. Courtney 159

Epithets Freely Bandied 160

Oak Point Antics 163

A Final Race, a Final Excuse 166

Reputations (Mostly) Redeemed 167

Chapter 13 The Ruin of Professional Rowing 173

Spectacles and Tricycles 178

Banned in Boston 183

The Professionals Drift Away 184

Chapter 14 The Triumph of the Amateurs 187

Amateur Rowing 188

Two Germanys Reform the Sport 192

Women Rowers 194

Rowing in Popular Culture 200

Amateur or Professional? 204

Appendix: The Rowing Legacy of Thomas Eakins

Eakins in Paris and Philadelphia 210

Eakins Portrays the Biglins 213

Acknowledgments 221

Notes 225

Bibliography 251

Index 267