Bookish Review: Unbroken

My book club selected this book, and I am so glad they dad. Louis Zamperini, the protagonist of this amazing true story, just passed away yesterday at the age of 97, and as it is July 4th, I think sharing the story of an American hero is very appropriate. Unbroken is Zamperini's life story, including his misspent youth, his rise as a track star, and his service in the Pacific theater during WWII. Most of my knowledge of WWII is focused on what happened in Europe, plus Pearl Harbor, and the atomic bombings, of course. I really didn't know that much about the Pacific theater otherwise, so beyond Zamperini's incredible story of survival, I found the book very interesting for the history lesson alone. Frankly, what happened to Zamperini and others in the war reads like fiction--how could these men have survived? It's very inspirational, and Zamperini's struggles after the war give some insight into PTSD for soldiers. The book is long and meticulously researched, but it's definitely a page turner. Read it before the movie comes out!

Bookish: Spandau Phoenix

Yet another Greg Iles novel. This is a different one, a historical conspiracy thriller involving a WWII mystery. I had some problems with this. First, I made the mistake of taking this book on my beach vacation. This is not a beach read, and I found it hard to concentrate on it. It's a little heavy. The second problem: I know the basics of WWII, but I am by no means an expert. I know Hitler, Himmler, the Holocaust, Auchwitz, etc., but I was not familiar with Spandau or Rudolph Hess, which is some pretty important information for understanding this book. So, I didn't really know how much was fact and how much was fiction. I found it very annoying that there was not even a historical note at the end elucidating this information. So, the book is well-written and interesting, based on the idea that Hess's flight to Great Britan had greater implications than perhaps first realized and that the prisoner locked up in Spandau Prison was never Rudolph Hess, but rather an imposter. The main meat of the book is set in Germany and South Africa long after WWII, but before the destruction on the Berlin Wall. It involves Nazis, atomic bombs, secret identities, and secret societies. I think WWII buffs would get more enjoyment out of it than I did, but not a bad read overall. I didn't enjoy it as much as Iles's modern-day Southern thrillers, though.