'Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption' by Laura Hillenbrand

Title:  Unbroken:  A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
Author:  Laura Hillenbrand
Genre:  History/Non-Fiction
Publisher: Random House
Date Published: October 2010
Date Read:  01/04/2015
Rating:  ✯✯✯✯✯ 5/5
Original review first posted on Goodreads

I've spent a lot of time trying to decide what book I wanted to add to Embracing My Book Addiction next, but when I thought about the close approach of Independence Day, it seemed like a no-brainer to post about one of the most amazing American heroes to have ever lived--Louis Zamperini. 

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Considering how difficult it was to write a simple review of this book, I can't imagine what a feat it was for Laura Hillenbrand to write Unbroken: A World War Two Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. There is so much history here, going beyond the life of one amazing man and into the dark histories of not only a nation, but of the entire world.

Louis "Louie" Zamperini was a wild child with a bad reputation until his brother Pete convinced him to put his abundant emergy into pounding the pavement at a local track, awakening Louie's love of running and dreams of the Olympics. Remarkably, Louie continued to flourish as a "miler", crushing records with his speed, and qualifying for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. His experiences in the Olympics were so interesting to me, as I've had a strong interest in Nazi Germany since reading The Diary of Anne Frank as a child. The athletes described seeing subtle evidence of the terrors occurring under Hitler's rule at that time: Stars of David marking Jewish businesses, busted windows in the same shops, and the slavish behaviors of the German citizens at the Games. One athlete stated that he knew something terrible was coming, and that he was relieved to be leaving Berlin. Imagining the dark and oppressive feel in the air of Berlin, that was felt even by those with no clue of what was happening, gives me the chills...
(On a bittersweet side note, when the book talks about Louie meeting Jesse Owens at the Olympic games, I automatically thought of sweet little Rudy from my beloved The Book Thief and it made me smile.)

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Instead of making it to the next Olympics, Louie instead joined the United States Air Force after the world erupted into war. In his role as a bombardier on bomber planes, Louie took part on many important missions, witnessing countless close calls and losses of life. On a rescue mission, his plane goes down into the Pacific Ocean, and Louie's fight for survival really began. The events described are nearly impossible to imagine someone surviving and the hopelessness of it all increases as Louie finds himself as a Japanese POW.

Like I mentioned before, WW-II has always been an interest of mine, but my focus has mostly been on Germany, Poland, etc. Recently, in reading one of the best books I've ever read (Paullina Simons' The Bronze Horseman ), I learned more about Russia's experience during the war and was amazed that I'd never really learned much about it in history books. The same can be said about Japan... Outside of Pearl Harbor, the bombing of Hiroshima, and the flag raising on Iwo Jima, I know next to nothing about Japan and had never had a ton of interest in the Pacific theater of the war. Thus, I didn't know that approximately 1/3 of American POWs died in Japanese POW camps, whereas only about 1% died in German and Italian camps. This was in large part due to beliefs in Japanese culture regarding prisoners of war. I will be finding more books about World War II Japan, for sure.

On a final note, I know this review got a little lengthy and that's even with me forcing myself to wrap it up, despite having a million more things to say. There's just so much that happens in this book. It is absolutely astounding what the human body can endure and the atrocities that the human heart can forgive. I took away so many things from Unbroken: A World War Two Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, but of utmost importance was its messages about faith, determination, compassion, and forgiveness.

Louis Zamperini, you were a true American hero and inspiration to all who have been touched by your story. May you rest in peace.
                                                    (January 26, 1917 – July 2, 2014)

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