Devil at My Heels: A WW II Hero's Epic Saga of Torment, Survival, and Forgiveness [Hardcover]

Louis Zamperini (Author), David Rensin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2003

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 years. When war came he left the track for a B24 - a move that would have heartbreaking consequences. On a routine mission, his plane crashed into the shark-infested Pacific where he would drift 2000 miles for 47 days before being found by the Japanese. As a prisoner of war, Zamperini endured almost three years of horrible torture and humiliation at the hands of a psychopathic guard nicknamed "the Bird". Yet Zamperini endured and returned home a hero. Unfortunately, the terrible memory of his experiences haunted him. Zamperini turned to alcohol and spiralled into the depths of despair until a young preacher named Billy Graham helped him rediscover the faith that would lead him to return to Japan and forgive his now-imprisoned captors. Moving and unforgettable, terrifying and inspirational, Devil At My Hells is not to be missed.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Zamperini was an intractable troublemaker of a youth who became a champion runner, competing in the 1936 Olympics and shaking hands with Hitler and Goebbels. When war seemed inevitable, he joined the Army Air Corps and flew a number of combat missions in the Pacific as a B-24 bombardier. In May 1943, his plane crashed on a routine search mission, and Zamperini and two survivors floated on a raft for 47 days before being taken prisoner by the Japanese. He spent the rest of the war in prison camps undergoing terrible abuse, as did many prisoners in Japan. After the war, disaffected and rootless, he attended an early Billy Graham revival and found religion. He became an inspirational speaker, eventually returned to Japan to confront and forgive his captors, and spent the rest of his life spreading Christianity and supporting various Christian endeavors. His memoir will fit well in inspirational collections, but it is also a well-written addition to the growing body of World War II personal narratives. Zamperini's positive attitude, resilience, and narrative strength make this a reasonable purchase for many public libraries and military collections. [During the 1998 Winter Olympics in Japan, Zamperini's story and dramatic return to face his torturer was chronicled on CBS's 48 Hours.-Ed.]-Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, K.
--Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Zamperini and Rensin devote three-quarters of the former's autobiography to his ups and downs before the influence of Billy Graham turned him around and he became a well-known inspirational speaker. A near delinquent in interwar Los Angeles, he nevertheless became a good enough runner to make the U.S. team for the 1936 Olympics. Later, serving in the Army Air Force in World War II, he survived six weeks adrift on a raft after his plane went down at sea and then, more than two years of particularly atrocious treatment as a prisoner of the Japanese. His postwar rehabilitation involved opportunities missed, money squandered, and sieges of alcoholism until Graham's counsel took hold (he also credits his wife, paying her generous tribute). His book not only retells the interesting life story of a generation now passing from the scene but also adds significantly to knowledge of each of the kinds of experience he underwent. It will find readers and please them. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (January 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006018860X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060188603
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

105 of 106 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A REAL SURVIVOR!, February 27, 2003

By 

Michael E. Tymn (Kailua, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Devil at My Heels: A WW II Hero's Epic Saga of Torment, Survival, and Forgiveness (Hardcover)

All of these television personalities who fancy themselves "survivors" for having undergone challenges of one kind or another on the various survival programs now popular might have a different perspective on survival if they read this book. Lou Zamperini is the "ultimate survivor."

To Zamperini, surviving meant starving and thirsting while confined to a life raft for 47 days. That ordeal included fighting off sharks while enemy planes shot at him. Surviving meant living with the tryanny, torture, and torment of his captors, including the threat of decapitation. It meant living through two cold winters as a prisoner of war, his body weight dropping to as low as 66 pound.

Zamperini was forced to survive in the rigid domain of despair, beyond the reach of help, or rest, or pity. Survival meantmeant living from day to day with the heart tearing itself between hope and fear, merely subsisting under a cloud of doom with no end in sight.

Yet, Zamperini was able to call upon the inner strength that had been nurtured in his days as an Olympic runner, and to endure.

Some of Zamperini's greatest challenges came after the war was over, the biggest one being overcoming the anger and hate he felt for this Japanese captors.

With God's help, "Lucky Louie" succeeded in every one of his challenges. It's a fascinating story, a story of real survival.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book should be required reading, it is a classic!, December 7, 2003

By 

Christiana Washington (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Devil at My Heels: A WW II Hero's Epic Saga of Torment, Survival, and Forgiveness (Hardcover)

I hope that Louis Zamperini's story becomes required reading for our children one day. This man's amazing story of survival against all odds during WWII is truly miraculous. To describe Louie as merely "lucky" misses the mark somehow. He should have died many times over before and during the war, but through God's grace and Zamperini's formidable willpower he survived to tell his story. And what an incredible, page-turning saga it is! I couldn't put this book down and after reading it, I was a changed woman. I had a new respect for my grandfather, and the men of his generation who suffered unimaginable horrors on the battlefields of Europe and Japan during the 1940's.

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Uplifting Story About One Man's Courage and Faith, October 21, 2003

By 

Jeffrey T. Munson (Dixon, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Devil at My Heels: A WW II Hero's Epic Saga of Torment, Survival, and Forgiveness (Hardcover)

In this exciting and epic book, author Louis Zamperini describes his life from a child through adulthood and the growth he experienced as a person during that time. Louis was a typical young child; full of mischief and adventure, and he always seemed to be getting into trouble for one thing or another, but thanks to his older brother Pete's love and encouragement, Louis' life began to change for the better.

Pete was an outstanding track and field athlete and he encouraged Louis to do the same. Soon, Louis was a world-class middle distance runner and held the national collegiate record for the mile run. He qualified for the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin and placed eighth in his race. Even though he didn't win a medal, he still accomplished what the large majority of people never will.

A few years later, Louis joined the army as a navigator on a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber. Based in Hawaii, his crew participated in the bombing of Japanese-held territory as well as search and rescue missions. It was on one of these rescue missions that Louis' own plane became disabled and forced to crash. What happened next can only be described as a miracle, as Louis and another crewmember survived for forty seven days on a rubber raft, while eating small fish and even seabirds while collecting rainwater to drink.

After drifting for two thousand miles, Louis was finally picked up by the Japanese, where he was imprisoned on the Japanese-held island of Kwajalein. During his time in prison on Kwajalein and later in Japan itself, Louis was subjected to numerous beatings and very little food. One particular guard called "The Bird" was especially cruel.

The war finally ended in September, 1945, and slowly, Louis managed to return to civillian life. However, he had accumulated a great amount of hatred, and he suppressed his feeling with alcohol and carousing. Finally, Louis met a woman named Cynthia and fell in love. However, their relationship was anything but easy. Louis' drinking and harsh worlds nearly drove Cynthia and their newborn daughter away, but she decided to stay.

Cynthia met a neighbor who was a Christian and started attending meetings, but Louis was reluctant to go. After some nudging from his wife, Louis finally attended and a transformation began; Louis began to have feelings he never had before; feelings of forgiveness. Louis accepted Christ into his life and began working as a Christian missionary. He even travelled to Japan, met his former captors face to face, and forgave them for what they did to him.

This is a truly uplifting and inspiring book. Louis' life has been truly remarkable in every sense of the word. I was drawn in to his story and found myself cheering for him when he became a Christian. Read this great book and experience the growth of an unruly young man into a messenger for God.