This month I finished reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. It is about Olympic medalist Louis Zamperini's experience during World War II, when his airplane was shot down and he ended up in a Japanses POW camp.
It is so good!! It is very detailed about the Japanese side of the war. I have read many books about World War II, but most of them talk about the circumstances in Germany; I can only remember one that talked about life in a Japanese POW camp. I found it really interesting in this book that it focused on the Japanese belief's of their superiority over the rest of the world, and how much they despised those who ended up being captured (it was their belief that anyone who surrendered or was captured were the worst of the worst - they would rather kill themselves than be taken captive). So they felt they could do anything to those they captured.
Louis was not put on the Red Cross registry, so no one knew that he survived. And he ended up being the most hated prisoner by one of the camp leaders, known as 'The Bird.' After reading the unthinkable things that they all endured, and many were able to survive, it's amazing to read about the way many of the former POWs were able to work through their trials and later forgive those who held them captive.
This book is incredible. And Laura Hillenbrand does a wonderful job of bringing the story to you. Read it. You'll love it.
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