5.0

The level of research, empathy, detail and compassion in the telling of Louis Zamperini’s story is unlike anything I’ve ever read as a biography.

This is a top 10 book for me. I adored the way Hillenbrand took the time to represent so many other POWs, soldiers and guards and their lived experiences too. This wasn’t just a memoir for a man, but a war, and the internal mental battle of survival despite bleakness and fear.

I read every word of the acknowledgements and the sheer feat of communication, resourcing and writing is a marvel in itself, never mind the way it was finally compiled to deliver this phenomenal story. There aren’t enough words.