Unbroken

A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

By: Laura Hillenbrand

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann

Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Number-one New York Times best seller

The incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: 2014’s Unbroken and the upcoming Unbroken: Path to Redemption.

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.

In her long-awaited book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. 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.

©2010 Laura Hillenbrand; 2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Unbroken is wonderful twice over, for the tale it tells and for the way it’s told. A better book than Seabiscuit, it manages maximum velocity with no loss of subtlety. [Hillenbrand has] a jeweler’s eye for a detail that makes a story live." (Newsweek)

"A master class in narrative storytelling.... Extraordinarily moving...A powerfully drawn survival epic." (The Wall Street Journal)

"Ambitious and powerful.... Hillenbrand is intelligent and restrained, and wise enough to let the story unfold for itself. Her research is thorough, her writing crystalline. Unbroken is gripping in an almost cinematic way." (The New York Times Book Review)

“[A] one-in-a-billion story...designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.” (New York)

“Staggering...mesmerizing...Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.” (People)

“A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.” (The Washington Post)

“Hillenbrand...tells [this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.” (Time)

“Unbroken is too much book to hope for: a hellride of a story in the grip of the one writer who can handle it.” (Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run)

Incredible!

This book was absolutely incredible! I'm not normally into these types of war stories but the central theme and main character captured my attention right away.

Never Broken

I loved that it was a true story and that it told you so many details that you could picture being there and I hope you read this book

Outstanding Tribute and read.

Riviting read. Great insight to our returning POWs. Well researched and written. Very easy to listen to.

Great book

Help me in suspense in one moment in tears another and laughing at another moment. Well written highly recommended

I listened every second I could.

Couldn't stop listening. I would sit in my car after I parked captured by this performance and story. So good

Popped my cherry

This is my first time on audible and picked the best book for it. Now I'm hooked! Great story and an awesome performance by the reader. Looking forward in reading "listening" to more books here on audible.

Riviting!!

This Book is amazing, from the depths of hell sand back, from evil to forgiveness, from pain to peace, all which come from Jesus Christ.
Well worth the time to listen.

A Truly Inspiring Through Hell and Back

Its a story beyond comprehension. The savagery and brutality with which he had to endure was deeply saddening not just for him as a human being but for the Japanese doing it. I lived in Tokyo, Japan for two years, serving as a christian missionary. It was hard to hear about the monsters those Japanese guards had become having had lived and served among their posterity.

It is a heart wrenching story, yet truly one of perseverance, hope, and redemption.

Extremely Good Book

It is definitely one of my favorite books. It gave me a good idea of what it was like to be a prisoner in a Japanese concentration camp. The narrator did a wonderful job also.

great book and narration

I really enjoyed this audio book. the story was fascinating and compelling and Edward Herrmann narrates it wonderfully.