Image for Unbroken : A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption

Unbroken : A World War II Story Of Survival, Resilience, And Redemption

by Laura Hillenbrand

Synopsis

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and hum∨ brutality with rebellion.  His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed inSeabiscuit.  Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.


From the Hardcover edition.

Available format(s):

VOICEText (H)

Log in to read

What's an Audio Format

Book Information

Copyright year 2010
ISBN-13 9781400064168
ISBN-10 1400064163
Class Copyright
Publisher Random House Incorporated
Subject Biography & Autobiography;History;Travel
File Size 0 MB
Number of Pages 496
Shelf No. KF050
Grade Range 8-11
Ages 14-17
Lexile 1010L
Curriculums EngageNY 2016 Trademarks