UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand

Please read this book. I know I'm supposed to wait until you've read through the long and thoughtful review I'm about to write before I give you my recommendation but please, read this book.

If you've heard the name Laura Hillenbrand before, it is probably because she wrote Seabiscuit (that book about that horse that they turned into that movie). I will be honest - this was not a huge selling point for me. I never read Seabiscuit. I never saw the movie. I never even went through that horse phase that all young girls allegedly experience in elementary school. The only reason I even looked at this book was because I happened to be listening to a Smodcast episode in which Scott Mosier recommended it with such vigour that it was hard to ignore. I now know why he was so adamant in his recommendation - this book is amazing! Granted, I'm a little biased. I love History. I (almost) have a couple of degrees in History. But Hillenbrand goes beyond the research and biographical record to create a narrative that draws the reader in and doesn't let go until the very end. She achieves something that practiced historians can't or don't bother to do - to make history accessible to everyone. And Hillenbrand does this very well.

To give you a brief idea of what you'll be getting into, the book follows the awe-inspiring life of Louis Zamperini from his early years as a troubled child, to his elevation as an Olympic-level runner, and finally to his experiences as a bombardier during the Second World War. Zamperini's life is littered with surreal episodes, including a meeting with Hitler, a skirmish with a shark (well, several sharks), and living as a POW in Japan under the supervision of one of the most deranged Japanese war criminals of the war. You really have to read it to believe it!.

As someone who studies history and critiques literature, I of course am also obligated to mention the book's shortcomings. As a biography of an American officer, the book is necessarily one-sided. Although there are a few attempts by Hillenbrand to incorporate it, the Japanese perspective is all but absent. I do love that this book addresses a part of WWII that is sometimes neglected in Public History. Primary and Secondary School textbooks tend to get distracted by the horrors that were going on in Europe (and rightly so), and they neglect the massive undertaking that was being perpetrated in the Pacific. However, as in all history, perspective is an important consideration and Unbroken presents just one side of the multi-faceted issue that was the Sino-American War.

But regardless of any shortcomings, I would highly recommend that you read this book and pass it on to any and all of your friends!

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