Along with the rest of his crew aboard the "flying coffin," he survived a number of missions before being shot down during a search and rescue operation and ending up in the shark-infested drink.
As luck would have it, a permanent detour while on a path towards the Olympics to make use of what he'd probably call his God-given talent, sent him instead towards WWII. This book truly is a testament of the strength of the human spirit, and will certainly have more people gain a better understanding of the treatment of POWs in the Pacific.Because the inside book jacket contains a nice little summary, it won't spoil anything to say that the main character in this true story, Louis Zamperini, was a ruffian during his childhood who, with the support of his brother, achieved athletic excellence as a runner.
I would recommend this book to everyone I know it impacted me so much more than I can explain. Hillenbrand is excellent at giving additional information on important subjects in the book such as the history of track records Louie had broken, the B-24s he was a part of, and the Japenese war criminals who tortured and enslaved him. Along with Louie's story, we get an incredible view of the life of other servicemen, other track stars, fellow POWs, and the terrible prison guards. In a way, this is not only the story of Louie, but of the other men in the armed forces and POWs of World War II. There is literally nothing dull or confusing about Hillenbrand's writing. It was incredibly difficult to read the accounts of the horrific torture and starvation that Louie and the Allied POWs suffered, but at the same time it was incredible to realize that a human being was able to withstand so much pain and suffering for such a long period of time and still survive-and considering that as of October 2011, Louie is still very much alive at 93 is almost impossible to believe The most incredible part Louie's story is the harrowing account of his 43-day survival at sea after the plane crash and his subsequent imprisonment by the Japanese. Each phase of his life is described in a smooth and fluid detail that makes the book easier to read, even during the heart-wrenching pages describing the torture and humiliation that he endured. But soon, I found myself racing through the pages and comfortably reading about the extraordinary life of Louie Zamperini, an American track star, Olympic athlete, World War II officer, and prisoner of war in the Pacific. I have never read anything by Hillenbrand, so I had no idea what to expect when I picked up UNBROKEN.
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