Let's Bust a Recap : Unbroken

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom are the two books I will recommend to any person at any time. I re-read Unbroken in January for my Sister Book Club which worked out perfectly because I've specifically been wanting to re-read it just to write a recap for this very blog since it is my Go-To Book to recommend to people. 

I first read Unbroken right before the movie adaptation came out in 2014. I think every person in my family passed the book around and then we all went to see the movie together a few weeks later. Since that time, I have recommended this book to every single person who has ever asked me for a book recommendation.

As you can see from the cover of the book, Unbroken is a World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. In it, Laura Hillenbrand thoroughly chronicles the life of Louis Silvie Zamperini who was a distance runner in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, a bombardier in the B-24 Liberators in the Pacific Theater in WWII, and a POW in Japan after being stranded at sea on an inflatable raft for 46 days. After returning home from the war—which in and of itself was a true miracle—he experienced a personal regeneration after hearing Billy Graham speak at a revival meeting. He devoted the rest of his life to forgiving his captors, evangelism, and at-risk youth.

While Zamperini himself was a remarkable person, Hillenbrand's writing brings his story to life in an engaging and compelling narrative that feels more like a novel than it does a biography. Unbroken has won heaps of awards and been adapted into two movies. Since its original publication at the end of 2010, it has sold well over four million copies. It spent more than four years on The New York Times bestseller list. I've never really been interested in Seabiscuit the racehorse, but I've been curious about Hillenbrand's book on Seabiscuit ever since reading Unbroken just because I was so impressed with her writing. 

While reading about Zamperini's time as a POW and the subsequent consequences he endured because of the atrocities he was subjected to in Japan is difficult, I have to reiterate what I said last week in my recap of Anne Frank's diary: these stories are so important for us to remember. This is a book I will keep recommending to anyone who asks because, not only is it an incredible story, it really happened and it happened during a time in history that touched every corner of our world. My grandfather served in WWII and I have known many men and women who lived through those dark times, but we have reached a point where the current generation of young people may never meet someone who lived during WWII and the next generation definitely won't. Books like Unbroken and The Hiding Place and Night and The Diary of Anne Frank are critical for them. 

Am I making myself clear? Is this thing on? I know I'm not the most eloquent writer in the world but what I'm saying is:

READ THIS BOOK

That is all. 

Have you read Unbroken or any other true story of WWII that impacted you? What are your Go-To Book recommendations?