Unbroken

Name: Unbroken
ISBN: 9780753152898

by Laura Hillenbrand · first published 2010

7mentions

6recommended by

7HN commenters

2016–2025first – last mentioned

86% recommend14% neutral

Why HN recommends it

Gripping true story of WWII survival in the Pacific, following a bomber crew's ordeal. It offers a vivid account of human grit and reveals key war history.

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

Biography & Memoir Politics & Society

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 plane’s 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 lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As

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Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

neverartful · Apr 24, 2022 · Recommends

…if you're completely dependent on it and have no confidence to adapt, that reminder may not be helpful in the moment. There's an incredible book about personal survival and the will to survive. It's "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand and it tells the true story about a WWII B-24 bomber crew that went down in the Pacific and how one crewman (the focus of the book) survives being in the water for an incredibly…
on “Ask HN: How do you prepare for the worst in life?” ↗
psychotik · Dec 12, 2018 · Recommends

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand. Story of human grit and survival in the Pacific WWII theater that I hadn't heard of before. I was blown away by the story, and about what I learned about the War that I didn't already…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗
FrankenDino · Feb 20, 2022 · Recommends

"Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8664353-unbroken
on “Ask HN: Recommend a biography?” ↗
stonlyb · Jan 12, 2025 · Recommends

…37. Annapurna by Maurice Herzog - Climbing a Himalayan peak. 38. Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder - Data General engineers. 39. Showstopper by G. Pascal Zachary - Development of Windows NT. 40. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - WWII survival. 41. The Measure of All Things by Ken Alder - Defining the meter. 42. The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll - Tracking a hacker. 43. The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗
mudil · Aug 8, 2016 · Recommends

I gave my father Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Horrors of war and the triumph of the human spirit. What a story, what a life!
on “Ask HN: What book have you given as a gift?” ↗
davidgh · Jun 4, 2017 · Recommends

…through a half dozen foundational inventions and the process through which they came to be. Fascinating to see what the inventors were trying to solve vs. how the world ended up applying their technology. Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand. If you haven't read the book don't judge it by the (awful) movie. The Liberators: My Life in the Soviet Army. Really opens your eyes to the problems and realities of communism. I…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗
hackerkid · Dec 22, 2016 · Mentions

- Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari - Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight - Rework by Jason Fried - Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam - Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand - The Martian by Andy Weir - Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman by Richard Feynman
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗