New Releases by Louis Zamperini

Beginning where the hit movie Unbroken concludes, the next chapter brings the rest of Louis Zamperini''s inspirational true story to life. After surviving years of torture as a prisoner of war, Louis (Samuel Hunt) returns home from World War II, where he meets and marries Cynthia (Merritt Patterson). Haunted by his past, he is driven deep into despair. But when Cynthia turns to God at the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade, her most fervent prayer for Louis is to find peace and forgiveness. Based on Laura Hillenbrand''s bestselling book, Unbroken: Path to Redemption is a "beautiful, beautiful film" (Kathie Lee Gifford, Today Show).

New York Times bestseller More than 100,000 copies in print Completed just two days before Louis Zamperini’s death at age ninety-seven, Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In shares a lifetime of wisdom, insight, and humor from “one of the most incredible American lives of the past century” (People). Zamperini’s story has touched millions through Laura Hillenbrand’s biography Unbroken and its blockbuster movie adaptation directed by Angelina Jolie. Now, in his own words, Zamperini reveals with warmth and great charm the essential values and lessons that sustained him throughout his remarkable journey. He was a youthful troublemaker from California who turned his life around to become a 1936 Olympian. Putting aside his track career, he volunteered for the army before Pearl Harbor and was thrust into World War II as a B-24 bombardier. While on a rescue mission, his plane went down in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where he survived against all odds, drifting two thousand miles in a small raft for forty-seven days. His struggle was only beginning: Zamperini was captured by the Japanese, and for more than two years he courageously endured torture and psychological abuse in a series of prisoner-of-war camps. He returned home to face more dark hours, but in 1949 Zamperini’s life was transformed by a spiritual rebirth that would guide him through the next sixty-five years of his long and happy life. Louis Zamperini’s Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In is an extraordinary last testament that captures the wisdom of a life lived to the fullest.

Abbiamo soltanto una vita. Non dovremmo mai essere troppo impegnati per non trovare il tempo di viverla al meglio.

Le 27 mai 1943, le B-24 du sous-lieutenant Louis Zamperini est abattu au-dessus du Pacifique, à 1 300 kilomètres au sud des îles Hawaï. Tout le monde le croit mort. En réalité, l''aviateur est vivant. Après avoir dérivé sur un radeau pendant un mois et demi avec ses compagnons d''infortune, il a été repêché par les Japonais au large des îles Marshall. Durant deux ans, à Yokohama, le prisonnier de guerre va connaître la faim, les humiliations et les brutalités du sergent Watanabe, dont le sadisme n''a pas de limites. Le sport avait sauvé une première fois ce fil d''immigrés italiens, que tout destinait à devenir un voyou. Recordman mondial du mile, ce champion de demi-fond avait même participé aux Jeux Olympiques de 1936 à Berlin et serré la main de Hitler. C''est la foi qui vient à son secours en 1950 et le pousse à revenir au Japon à la rencontre de ses anciens tortionnaires...

Athletically gifted, Louis Zamperini propelled himself from the tough streets of Southern California to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, and to an NCAA mile record at USC that stood for 20 yeas. When war came he left the track for a B24 - a move that would have heartbreaking consequences.