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Unbroken, read by Edward Hermann, is the bestselling story of the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who became a bombardier in World War II, was stranded on a life boat adrift in the Pacific Ocean, and eventually captured by the Japanese. Hillenbrand, author of the bestseller Seabiscuit, is a gifted story teller who meticulously details this almost unbelievable ordeal of pain and suffering. Yes, this is truly a book about resilience, and you will find yourself riveted to your seat as you listen to this well narrated, well told, true tale.

 

In this impressive work, there is one book and 8 CDs, so you can read and listen; I did both. Mostly I read, and then listened to catch a vocal impression of Jacqueline Kennedy.

These first of a kind conversations with Arthur Schlesinger were recorded within a year of President’s Kennedy’s death. Jacqueline Kennedy, with her strong sense of history, documented and preserved her first hand recollections of her husband’s political colleagues, friends, and events as she remembered them. They were sealed and put in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library per her wishes.

Now in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of JFK’s inauguration, the Kennedy family has released these insightful and revealing tapes. So much has been written and conjectured about this family; it is refreshing to hear the very human memories of Jacqueline.

Reversely, the life of Jacqueline and her perspective are also illuminated. She reveals so much about herself as she expresses her views of her husband. It’s fascinating.

There so many people that the average reader will often refer to the footnotes. I would also add that these are the thoughts of a young woman, steeped in shock and grief, who bravely tried to preserve her husband’s legacy.

Check here to see if the book is available now.

 In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson (2011)

A college professor and his family relocate to Berlin to serve as an ambassador in the years leading up to WWII. Hitler is rising. The family’s daughter befriends folk from every side of the coin. The U.S. government wants the professor to make sure Germany repays its debt. The U.S. government does not see Hitler as a threat.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (2010)
Laura Hillenbrand, the author of this book and the earlier book Seabiscuit, has written another winner. This book hooks you in from page one. It’s a great story of an American POW held by the Japanese during World War II. I learned a lot from this book, too.

By the way, did you know the 70^th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor was yesterday?

The Pacific (2010) TV-MA
This ten part HBO miniseries offers a realistic and horrifying view of World War II in the Pacific. The series is based on the memoirs of two marines who were there, Robert Leckie and Eugene Sledge, and the story of Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. John Basilone. Some episodes are devoted almost entirely to specific battles: Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima. Others show the marines on R&R in Australia, on medical leave, or in basic training.

The producers (who include Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg) purposely used relatively unknown actors so that the viewer wouldn't be distracted by recognizing well-known stars showing up in cameos ala The Longest Day (1962).

Check out the books that served as inspiration:

• Helmet for My Pillow (1957) by Robert Leckie
• With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (1981) by Eugene Sledge
• The Pacific (2010) by Hugh Ambrose is the companion to the miniseries

Did you know? The 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and America's entry into WWII is Wednesday, December 7.

God in America (2010)
This six hour documentary looks at the settling of America, the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation, and the issue of religion and politics in America from a strictly religious history point of view.

The Evangelical Protestant religion of many of the early settlers made them resentful of either church leaders or kings telling them what to do. Itinerant Methodist ministers traveling in the wilds west of the Appalachians made Methodism the fastest growing denomination in the US until the battle over slavery broke it into northern and southern denominations. The rights of Catholics and Jews to have their children free from Protestant religious training in public schools led to a greater separation of church and state.

In postwar America, Billy Graham and his crusade against "Godless" communism made him the best known religious figure in America. These are just a few of the interesting takes on American history found in this program which was created by a cooperative effort of The American Experience and Frontline.

For more information, visit the companion website.

American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella (2008)
When adventure writer Rinella wins a lottery to hunt and kill one buffalo in the wilds of Alaska, the story begins. Rinella has long had a fascination with the American Buffalo. As the story of his hunt proceeds, he stops along to the way to inform us on the natural history of the buffalo, its meaning in Native and European American culture, and its current existence. The adventure aspect of Rinella’s story is amazing. What some people will go through and call it fun! The history of the buffalo and the parallel history of America were fascinating. This is for anyone who likes adventure or natural history written for the interested lay person.

Read the USA Today review and learn more about the author and his adventure.

The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens' a Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford (2008)
Great fun to read about the astronomical success of Dickens' stories. This is an easy read which covers the career of Charles Dickens as well as the history behind The Christmas Carol . The book was published the same year Disney made the story into a great movie.

Learn more about the Christmas Carol and read The New York Times review.

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson (2006)
Yes, this book is by the same author as the "Big Read" book, The Devil In the White City – the story of the Chicago's World's Fair of 1893, chief architect Robert Burnham, and infamous murderer H.H. Holmes.

In Thunderstruck, Larson takes us to Edwardian England and intertwines the stories of William Marconi and his invention and development of the radio, and Hawley Crippen, an accused notorious murderer. For most of us, Marconi was merely the answer to a question in history class. Yet this was a real man and his story is an exciting as he must struggle with his invention,  competitors, family and himself. Larson shows us what a dramatic change the radio made to peoples’ lives.

And what of the connection between Marconi and Crippen? Hawley Crippen was no H.H. Holmes in that he was only accused of a single murder, but his story was sensationalized by the press of the 1900s. The story of the murder, the policeman who "solved it," Crippen's flight on the high seas, how the radio was used in his subsequent capture and arrest, his trial and the aftermath make this a great read.

Listen to the author read an excerpt and read the New York Times review.

Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco (2009)
How can we take time to learn from the past during a dire and urgent emergency? As both war journalist and cartoonist, Sacco depicts the bleak existence of Palestinians living in the Gaza strip with incredible skill. He documents his interviews and the situation in contemporary Gaza while trying to piece together the events of a massacre in 1956.

The entire investigative tale, with its demolished homes and weathered inhabitants, is illustrated in jaw-dropping, painstaking detail. Sacco captures the omnipresent grief, pain and anger, along with occasional moments of humanity and levity.

Read the New York Times review and watch the author interview.

Over 400 pages long, this is not a mere comic book. This is a hefty, eye-opening read that will tug at your heart.

A Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians by Fanny Kelly (1871)
Originally published in 1871, this is a great firsthand account of life on the frontier in the latter 19^th century. Fanny Kelly describes a wagon train, an attack by the Sioux, her life among her captors, and by extension, their lives, and the story of what happened when she got back. This book has plenty of drama and action. Plus it is a historical snapshot of an America now long forgotten.

Preview the book, read reviews from other readers, and explore other "captivity" narratives.

Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy by Carl Smith (1999)
This is Campaign Book 62 in Osprey’s superb series of combat histories. It is an extremely detailed yet concise (just 96 pages including appendices and index) telling of the events leading to and including an almost minute by minute account of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the US into the Second World War. It includes thumbnail biographies of US commanders Kimmel, Short, Stark, Marshall, Secretary of State Hull and President Roosevelt, and Japanese commanders Yamamoto, Fuchida, Genda, Nagumo and Ambassador Nomura.

Preview this book and read reviews from Amazon.

The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin (2004)
This nonfiction book portrays an important but painful time in the development of the United States. In 1888, when the Great Plains were being settled by European immigrants and Eastern transplants looking for a better life for their children, their biggest battle was against the weather. This book recounts the momentous events when a blizzard swept down out of Canada and caught many schoolchildren on their way home from school.

View the reading guide and author's interview.

The 8:55 to Baghdad: From London to Iraq on the Trail of Agatha Christie by Andrew Eames (2005)
Author Eames is in Aleppo, Syria, when he hears a reference to Agatha Christie coming regularly to Aleppo to "have her hair done." Knowing nothing of Christie's first visit to the Middle East and her many subsequent trips with her second husband, an archeologist, Eames reads up on Christie and the history of the paths of the Orient Express and Taurus Express that took her on her original trip. The book is full of the trials on traveling by train in the twenty-first century, the many interesting people along the way and the often fascinating history and culture of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It will make you want to come right back to the library and check out the books (or see the DVDs) of Murder on the Orient Express and Murder in Mesopotamia.

Brunelleschi's Dome: how a Renaissance genius reinvented architecture by Ross King (2000)
This book describes how a fifteenth-century goldsmith and clockmaker, Filippo Brunelleschi, came up with a unique design for the dome to crown Florence's magnificent new cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore.

With the excitement of the Renaissance as a backdrop, author King tells the whole story from Florence. Brunelleschi’s bitter, ongoing rivalry with the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti to the near capture of Florence by the Duke of Milan.

To help you make this journey back to fifteenth century Florence, King includes lots of fascinating detail; the traditions of the brickmaker’s art, the daily routine of the artisans laboring hundreds of feet above the ground as the dome grew ever higher, the problems of transportation and the power of the guilds.