#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ¥ SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE ¥ Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine ¥ Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award

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 planeÕs 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 lieutenantÕs name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, heÕd 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 new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in Seabiscuit. Telling an unforgettable story of a manÕs journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.

Praise for Unbroken

ÒExtraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.ÓÑThe Wall Street Journal

Ò[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.ÓÑNew York

ÒStaggering . . . mesmerizing . . . HillenbrandÕs writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you donÕt dare take your eyes off the page.ÓÑPeople

ÒA meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.ÓÑThe Washington Post

ÒAmbitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.ÓÑThe New York Times Book Review

ÒMarvelous . . . Unbroken is wonderful twice over, for the tale it tells and for the way itÕs told. . . . It manages maximum velocity with no loss of subtlety.ÓÑNewsweek

ÒMoving and, yes, inspirational . . . [Laura] HillenbrandÕs unforgettable book . . . deserve[s] pride of place alongside the best works of literature that chart the complications and the hard-won triumphs of so-called ordinary Americans and their extraordinary time.ÓÑMaureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

ÒHillenbrand . . . tells [this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinterÕs pace.ÓÑTime

ÒUnbroken is too much book to hope for: a hellride of a story in the grip of the one writer who can handle it.ÓÑChristopher McDougall, author of Born to Run

From the Hardcover edition.