Lost in Shangri-La

A true story of survival, adventure and the most incredible rescue mission of World War II 
by Mitchell Zuckoff

A plane carrying 24 US army personnel on a sightseeing trip crashed in the dense jungle of western New Guinea during World War II. Two men and one woman survived and were spotted by a search plane a couple of days later but it was impossible to land nearby to pick them up. The jungle was so dense, they had to walk for hours just to find a place to lie down and, worse, it was rumored the natives were headhunters. This completely factual story of the crash and the heroic rescue of the survivors is a captivating tale.

Visit the author's website for photos and original video footage.

Unbroken

A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption


by Laura Hillenbrand 

Louie Zamperini was an Olympic runner, member of the US air force in WWII, survivor of 47 days on a life raft after his plane was shot down, spent 2 1/2 years in a Japanese POW camp, was one of Billy Graham's converts (though this is not a Christian book and that was probably a spoiler if you're going to read it) and is still living today. Ms. Hillenbrand tells his riveting story in this book. I was hooked from the beginning and recommend it to those who like real-life adventure stories (there is a fair amount of cruelty described).

London refrain

by Bodie & Brock Thoene 

This novel is set in Poland, Germany, England, France and Israel near the beginning of World War II. I think it's a rewrite of one of their older books, but it was great. I love all their WWII stories.