Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

Louis Zamperini grew up in the 1920s. He was a hell raiser, who was more interested in a fight than in school or helping others. He was also known for grabbing things and running like the wind! His brother convinced him to use that gift of running on the track team. As a result he stayed in school and eventually ran track in college. His running earned him a spot on the 1936 USA Olympic Track Team. He went to the Olympic Games in Berlin and came in 8th. It looked like he was set to win the 1940 Olympics in Japan. He even got to meet Adolph Hitler! Instead, WWII happened and Louis went to war. He became a bombardier and found himself on a rescue mission over the Pacific Ocean. The plane crashed and only 3 of the 12 aboard survived. Louis and the other two found the raft and spent the next 200 plus days on the water. One of the men panicked and ate the only rations available, six chocolate bars. They survived on albatross and on the livers of sharks. Survival training taught them that shark liver was quite nutritious. Finally land was sighted! But it ended up being occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese eventually took them to Japan, where they were put in a P.O.W. camp that was run by The Bird, a cruel man with the last name of Wantanabe.

After the war, Louis came home and married. The war came back to him every night in the form of nightmares, which caused him to turn to alcohol. Then one day Louis attended a Billy Graham revival and met the Lord Jesus Christ and he was a changed man! No more nightmares;and
no more alcohol.

Excellent book!! I highly recommend it!!