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. &#160;Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. &#160;It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane&rsquo;s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.&#160; So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.<br><br>The lieutenant&rsquo;s name was Louis Zamperini. &#160;In boyhood, he&rsquo;d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. &#160;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. &#160;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.<br><br>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. &#160;Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. &#160;His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.<br><br>In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in <i>Seabiscuit</i>. &#160;Telling an unforgettable story of a man&rsquo;s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>