Unbroken

Description:

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 humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

subjects: New York Times bestseller,  nyt:hardcover_political_books=2012-02-25,  Prisoners of war,  Campaigns,  American Aerial operations,  World War, 1939-1945,  Long-distance runners,  United States,  United States. Army Air Forces. Heavy Bombardment Group, 307th,  Biography,  Japanese Prisoners and prisons,  United States. Army Air Forces. Bombardment Group, 307th,  Krigsfångar,  Andra världskriget 1939-1945,  Kampfflieger,  American,  Aerial operations,  Runners (Sports),  Amerikanischer Kriegsgefangener,  Aerial Military operations,  Krigsfångar, japanska,  Military campaigns,  Prisoners and prisons,  University of South Alabama,  Pazifikkrieg,  Chōsen Kōgei Kenkyūkai,  United states, army air forces,  World war, 1939-1945, prisoners and prisons, japanese,  World war, 1939-1945, aerial operations, american,  World war, 1939-1945, campaigns, pacific ocean,  Athletes, biography,  Survival after airplane accidents, shipwrecks, etc.,  Biographies & Memoirs,  World War II,  Military,  Survival,  Reading Level-Grade 9,  Reading Level-Grade 8,  Reading Level-Grade 11,  Reading Level-Grade 10,  Reading Level-Grade 12,  Spanish language materials,  Guerre mondiale, 1939-1945,  Prisonniers et prisons des japonais,  Prisonniers de guerre,  Biographies,  Campagnes et batailles,  Coureurs de fond,  Guerra Mundial II, 1939-1945,  Prisioneros y prisiones japoneses,  Prisioneros de guerra,  Operaciones aéreas estadounidenses,  Campañas,  Corredores (Deportes),  Spanish language,  Reading materials,  Olympic athletes,  Juvenile literature,  nyt:young-adult=2014-11-30,  World war, 1939-1945, prisoners and prisons,  World war, 1939-1945, juvenile literature,  World war, 1939-1945, aerial operations,  United states, biography, juvenile literature,  Japan, juvenile literature,  Athletes,  Athletes, juvenile literature,  World war, 1939-1945, pacific area,  Airplane crash survival,  Survie après accidents d'avion,  nyt:paperback-nonfiction=2014-08-17,  New York Times reviewed,  World War (1939-1945) fast (OCoLC)fst01180924,  Zamperini, Louis, 1917-,  Biografía,  Estados Unidos

People: Louis Zamperini,  Louis Zamperini (1917-),  Louis Zamperini (1917-2014)

Places: United States,  Japan,  Pacific Area,  Japón

Times: World War II