Best Rowing Books

Rowing books range from novels to technical advice. We list popular and classic books which you can read. Become a student of rowing by reading rowing books. Let us know if we’ve missed your favourite.

Top 5 Classic Rowing Books

1. Assault on Lake Casitas – Brad Alan Lewis
2. Boys in the Boat – Daniel Brown
3. Mind Over Water: Lessons on Life and the Art of Rowing – Craig Lambert
4. Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K Jerome
5. True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny  – Daniel Topolski

Top Rowing ‘Coffee Table’ gift books

• The Book of Ted – Sean Colgan
• The Big Picture – Merijn Soeters
• The Wondrous Sport of Rowing – Phil Stekl

Top 5 Rowing Coach and Rowing Technique books

1. Rudern – The East German text of oarsmanship
2. Training for the Complete Rower: A Guide to Improving Performance – Paul Thompson & Alex Wolf
3. Masters Rowing – Training for fitness, technique and competition – Volker Nolter & Wolfgang Fritsch
4. Slowly Forward – Steve Fairbairn
5. Consistent Winning – Ronald Sandler & Dennis Lobstein

Top Rowing novels

1. On The Water – H M van den Brink
2. Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
3. Water Under The Bridge – Simon Murch
4. Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K Jerome
5. The Seven Seat: A True Story of Rowing, Revenge and Redemption – Daniel J Boyne

Top Rowing Biographies

1. My Olympic Life – Anita DeFrantz
2. A Golden Age – Steve Redgrave
3. A Lifetime in a Race – Matthew Pinsent
4. My Autobiography – Katherine Grainger
5. Gold Medal Flapjack: Silver Medal Life – Alison Mowbray

I listed most of the books below – but I don’t warrant any typos or missing author names…. this list is still growing.

Please buy from Rowing Stores if possible. (Row2k has a good range).

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

• Out of my scull: Mayhem and misadventure on Delaware’s Cristina River Danielle Battaglia
• Tight Puddles: A journey through the basics n local water to the demands of elite performance on international waters. JH Cumper
• Strong to Save Your GenX Imperative to die harder and later – David Emerson Frost
• Consistent Winning – Ronald Sandler & Dennis Lobstein
• The Greatest Rowing Stories Ever Told – Goran Buckhorn
• Rowing Science – Volker Nolte
• The Female Body Bible – Baz Moffat, Emma Ross & Dr Bella Smith.
• Rowing against the Current – Barry Strauss
• Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
• Rowing Home – Sybil Terres Gilmar
• Hidden Voices in Rowing – Daniela Nachazelova
• The Book of Ted [Ted A. Nash] – Sean Colgan
• Warriors An epic battle for Olympic Rowing Victory – Danielle Brittain
• Coaching the Coxswain (a guide for the rowing coach who never coxed) – Chelsea Dommert
• The Big Picture – Dutch rowing photos – Merijn Soeters
• The New Toughness Training for Sports: Mental Emotional Physical Conditioning – James E. Loehr
• Skjerpins – Olaf Tufte
• The Last Amateurs: To Hell and Back with the Cambridge Boat Race Crew – Mark de Rond
• My Olympic Life – Anita Defrantz
• Socrates the Rower – How Rowing Informs Philosophy – John Frohnmeyer
• Perfect Balance – Aquil Abdullah
• The Wondrous Sport of Rowing – Phil Stekl
• The Trinity College VIII: Rowing for the Ladies Plate – David Hickey
• Southerners Do Not Row – Scott Collins
• Masters Rowing – Training for fitness, technique and competition – Volker Nolte, Wolfgang Fritsch
• Learnings from 5 Olympic Games – Frances Houghton MBE
• Better Great than Never – Lindsay Dare Shoop
• The Long Win – Cath Bishop
• Winning Head Races – Carlo Zezza
• The Compleat Dr. Rowing – Andy Anderson
• Women’s voices in rowing – Daniela Nachazelova
• Water Ready, How to Get and Keep Your Rowing Equipment in its Prime – Mike Davenport
• A Pearl in the Storm: How I found my heart in the middle of the ocean – Tori Murdoch McLure
• Thor Nilsen – Rowing’s Global Coach – Chris Dodd
• Rowing Stronger – Will Ruth
• The Movement of Rowing self-screening strategies for the ankle – Blake Gourlay
• The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Rigging – Mike Davenport
• Assault on Lake Casitas – Brad Alan Lewis
• Long Live Open Water: Tales of Open Water Rowing, Food, Family and Life – Wayne Lysobey
• Red Rose Crew – Daniel J Boyne
• Boys in the Boat – Daniel Brown
• The Shell Game – Stephen Kiesling
• The Complete Recreational Rower and Racer – Stephen Kiesling
• Rudern – The East German text of oarsmanship
• Blood over Water – James and David Livingston
• When Crickets Cry – Charles Martin
• The Amateurs – David Halberstam
• A Golden Age – Steve Redgrave
• A Lifetime in a Race – Matthew Pinsent
• My Autobiography – Katherine Grainger
• Gold Medal Flapjack: Silver Medal Life – Alison Mowbray
• Flat Water Tuesday – Ron Irwin
• Wanted: Rowing Coach – Brad Alan Lewis
• On The Water – H M van den Brink
• Navigating Early – Clare Vanderpool
• Rowing Through the Barbed Wire Fence – Rima Karaliene
• Course Correction: A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX – Ginny Gilder
• The Sculler at Ease – Frank Cunningham
• Mind Over Water: Lessons on Life and the Art of Rowing – Craig Lambert
• Three Men in a Boat – Jerome K Jerome
• Water Under The Bridge – Simon Murch
• Something In The Water (about the Skibbereen Rowing Club) – Kieran McCarthy
• The Complete Book of Rowing – Steve Redgrave
• A Text book of Oarsmanship – Gilbert C Bourne
• Periodisation – Tudor Bompa
• Drawn to the Rhythm – Sara Hall
• Suga Water – Arshay Cooper
• The Baltimore Blues – Laura Lippman
• Ready All! – George Yeoman Pocock and Crew Racing
• Boathouse Row; Waves of change in the birthplace of American Rowiing – Dotty Brown
• The Story of World Rowing – Chris Dodd
• Kelly, a Father, a Son, an American quest – Daniel J Boyne
• Rowing For My Life: Two oceans, Two lives, One Journey – Kathleen Saville
• Let’s Take The Long Way Home; a memoir of friendship – Gail Caldwell
• The Way of a Man with a Blade – Hugh Robert Arthur Edwards
• Disappointment River : Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage – Brian Castner
• True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny  – Daniel Topolski
• The Legendary Casey Brothers – Jim Casey and Jim Hudson
• Training for the Complete Rower: A Guide to Improving Performance – Paul Thompson & Alex Wolf
• The Seven Seat: A True Story of Rowing, Revenge and Redemption – Daniel J Boyne
• The Kiwi Pair – Hamish Bond and Eric Murray
• Will it Make the Boat Go Faster? – Ben Hunt-Davis
• Four Men in a Boat: The Inside Story of the Sydney 2000 Coxless Four -Tim Foster & Rory Ross
• Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic’s Edge – Jill Fredston
• The Men of Kent: 10 Boys, A Fast Boat and The Coach Who Made Them Champions – Rick Rinehart
• Once a Runner – John L Parker Jr
• Pulling Through – the story of the Kings Cup – Bruce Coe
• The Oarsmen: The Remarkable Story of the Men Who Rowed From The Great War To Peace  – Scott Patterson
• Essential Sculling – Daniel J. Boyne
• The Complete Sculler – Richard Burnell
• Slowly Forward – Steve Fairbairn
• Sculling in a Nutshell – Gordon Hamilton
• Rowing Rudern, The GDR Text of Oarsmanship – Dr. Ernst Herberger, et al
• High Performance Rowing – John McArthur
• Skillful Rowing – Ed McNeely & Marlene Royle
• The Art of Sculling – Joe Paduda
• Tip of the Blade: Notes on Rowing – Marlene Royle
• Rowing and Sculling, The Complete Manual – Bill Sayer
• Advanced Rowing: International Perspectives on High Performance Rowing – Charles Simpson & Jim Flood

Note the links are affiliate links.