My father was reading a copy of Unbroken loaned to him by an old family friend during the 2011 holiday season. That particular copy was signed by Louie Zamperini at a book-signing.

Another personal tangent with this story is that a friend’s deceased father, whom I was in the process of digitizing his pre-war and WWII polaroids into a slideshow, was a personal friend of the pilot who is mentioned flying the U.S. bomber over the Japanese POW camp waving his wings in acknowledgement and is in couple of the polaroids from the family album.

Laura Hillenbrand is praised for her previous work “Seabiscuit” but has relatively few books published. After reading “Unbroken”, it’s clear that she puts a great deal of time, effort and care into her creations and became “like family” to Louie as a result of her research.

I’m anxious to get a hold of another Hillenbrand.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and RedemptionUnbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How ironic that the traits that made Louie an ornery youngster can also be attributed to molding him into a world class competitor, hero and survivor.

One of the best I’ve read in a long while and perhaps ever. I absorbed Unbroken as if I were a dry sponge.

View all my reviews

Steve D.

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