Unbroken : A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (2010, Hardcover)

I chose this book from ebay because I teach American history in high school. I had read the book on my Kindle but there are just some books you want to collect and share with friends and this was one of those. I was familiar with the author Laura Hillenbrand's excellent writing style in SEABISCUIT. She did not let me down. This story of the life of Louis Zamperini was well written and difficult to even put down for a break while reading. His amazing story came to life in Hillenbrand's prose. I have kept my copy circulating among family, friends and other teachers. My students were so enchanted that we watched several youtube videos to learn more about Zamperini. This is an excellent Christian story for those of us looking for a hero!

I bought this after reading Seabiscuit (one of the best books ever! The movie was only a glimpse.) Once the story turns from the triumph of the main character to the war, I wanted to quit reading but couldn't! Very painful to read about the atrocities inflicted. But it was, after all, a true accounting, and in the end, quite a remarkable testimony to the strength of the human spirit. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

One of the best books on WWII, I ever read. Laura Hillenbrand is a great author,and a great true story about Louie Zamperini a POW from 1943 until wars end. The Japanese POW"S should have been treated half as bad as our POW's were treated by the Japanese.

Wonderful book - amazing story of courage, endurance and determination. In late May 1943, the B-24 carrying the 26-year-old Zamperini went down over the Pacific. For nearly seven weeks — longer, Hillenbrand believes, than any other such instance in recorded history — Zamperini and his pilot managed to survive on a fragile raft. They traveled 2,000 miles, only to land in a series of Japanese prison camps, where, for the next two years, Zamperini underwent a whole new set of tortures. His is one of the most spectacular odysseys of this or any other war, and “odyssey” is the right word, for with its tempests and furies and monsters, many of them human, Zamperini’s saga is something out of Greek mythology.

I purchased this book for my son's sophomore summer reading. After he'd finished it and said what a great book it was, I decided to check it out. My son was right! Laura Hillenbrand has written what may be the definitive account of life as a Japanese POW, thanks to the incredible recollections of an incredible man. Louie Zamperini's life certainly is one worthy of the motion picture this book has inspired. I look forward to its debut and the exposure that our country's greatest generation will get once it hits the masses. Thank you Laura for presenting Louie Zamperini's story in such a well written and easy read.