A Heroic Olympian's Astonishing Story of Survival as a Japanese POW in World War II

Fantastic read. I found this book very entertaining and a great story. I wanted to read it at any chance that i got. I got recommended it by a friend but i actually bought the wrong one, the Laura Hillenbrand version provides some interesting facts and figures that are not in this and if i was to recommend it to somebody i would insist on the Laura Hillenbrand version.

What a story! When one of my doctors suggested that I read "Unbroken" about this gentleman's life, I also purchased his book. This is the book I read first and then gave to my doctor to read. Now, when Louis is here on 9/11, my doctor will get him to sign BOTH books, while I'll only have the one. In my opinion, both books should be read. It's just I'd rather read what this hero wrote first, before I read what someone wrote about him!

I am in the process of reading this remarkable story. I had previously downloaded his story written by Laura Hillenbrand on my Nook and I loved it so much that I decided to purchase it for my friend who is a retired Army Veteran. He is in the process of reading it now and will eventually read this one as well. I highly recommend this product.

A terrifically interesting story about a local SOCAL boy that made good before WWII, suffered thru a B24 crash at sea, POW camp life to return to his family ALIVE! Well written and a fast read written by the guy who lived this adventure. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the 1940s period and WWII.

I'm not into history, but this book was remarkable. I read the whole book on July 4th. Opened my eyes! He lived a great a life, we can all learn something from it. I never realized what troops had to go through back then, and it's horrible. I respect them on a whole new level now. It's sad he passed away, but he's a remarkable person!!

Written in easy to read, matter of fact words. Mr Zamperini tells his story as no other could. It's a page turner and well worth investing the time and money to go on this journey of remembrance with him.

Simply a must-have companion to the movie, and the book by Laura Hildebrand. Louis was indeed an amazing man. His legacy continues, with the boys camps he started, and maintained. My only regret is I never met the man. Thankfully, many interviews are online.

I wanted to read this book before seeing the movie. There is no way anyone could pack all of Louie's trials and tribulations into an hour and a half movie. After reading this book it is sobering to realize everything that Louie and ever other POW to endure. This book, Louie's story and stories just like it are nothing but amazing and life changing. Thank you to ever past, present and future solider.

Didn't realize until the end that this was written before Laura Hildebrand's work that was so well done. His perspective coupled with Laura's in her later book paint the picture on an extraordinary individual. It was very interesting reading.
Looking forward to the movie which will come out 12/25/14!

Amazing story of an amazing man! I had read "Unbroken" first, but this book still had new info to elaborate on the topics being discussed. How a person could survive all that, is truly amazing! It is a "must read"!

This book will be appreciated for generations! Easy to read yet hard to hear events of an Olympian turned soldier that became a POW during WWII, explains why they're called "The Greatest Generation." You must read to truly appreciate!

Before reading this book, I read unbroken and I thought that unbroken was a fantastic book. I found that he had another book about his life and I decided to read that as well because it was one that he had personally written and I'm very glad I did. Both books were great, but this book was a more personal account on his life and you got to know his thoughts. I recommend reading both books because they both fill in the details that may have been missed.

No words can describe just how amazing this book is. I could not put it down each night I took it up to read. I not only saw hoe amazingly God worked all things out for good for Lou, I also saw myself in & among the pages. God CAN get me through troubles & use them for His glory & my good.

Louis Zamperini tells his story in a candid transparent way that shows a man warts and all. It depicts a time in history that I pray we never go through again, but it also demonstrates that each of us has a purpose in this life. I hope that as you read Devil at my Heels you will discover yours.

Not a masterpiece of writing, but an engaging, remarkable first hand account from the subject of "Unbroken". Contrary to some of the comments in other reviews, Zamperini's account of his faith is integral to the story and very well done. Far from "preachy", this part of the story comes across with the same matter-of-fact honesty and integrity as the rest of his story and is essential to telling the entire story of this very amazing character. Zamperini's honesty throughout this book is very remarkable achievement in itself.

The story of Louis Zamperini is impacting. I read UNBROKEN first. Following up with DEVIL AT MY HEELS completes the story with so many fine details. A great blessing to read. Thank you to everyone who made the sharing of this great life story possible!!

I've read his biography by Laura Hillenbrand, which is one of the best written books I've read in many years. This book is very good too, because I really admired Mr. Zamperini. I enjoyed hearing about his life, in his own words.

Z-man's life is utterly amazing, especially given where he started and what life subsequently dealt him. This book offers inspiration and hope to others, especially those who think they have a lot to deal with in their life.

A rather quick read, I highly recommend it to everyone, teens and up, troubled or not.

This book is the basis for "Unbroken" in Zamparini's own words. An amazing, uplifting story of God's transforming work. I highly recommend it. Zamparini's life story is amazing and true. If it was fiction, it would be too outrageous to be believed. His story does not end with the war, he had many more amazing decades of living to share with his readers.

Z-man's life is utterly amazing, especially given where he started and what life subsequently dealt him. This book offers inspiration and hope to others, especially those who think they have a lot to deal with in their life.

A rather quick read, I highly recommend it to everyone, teens and up, troubled or not.

This book is the basis for "Unbroken" in Zamparini's own words. An amazing, uplifting story of God's transforming work. I highly recommend it. Zamparini's life story is amazing and true. If it was fiction, it would be too outrageous to be believed. His story does not end with the war, he had many more amazing decades of living to share with his readers.

It is hard to comprehend how Louis Zamperini endured what he did during World War II while stranded at sea after an air crash, imprisoned in Japan as a POW. Previously he had become a great runner. This book is full of a true life adventure story and how a person can survive despite many odds.

Absolutely couldn't put the book down. Incredible story and the author conveys the experiences in a way that lets you know what happened without grossing you out. Its a story of growth, drive, commitment, and perseverance. Read this or you've missed out.

This book is very much like "Unbroken". You really don't need to read both, however, I found the true story of Louis Zamperini so interesting, in "Unbroken" I was looking for more - "Devil at My Heels" didn't offer that much more info. Nevertheless, an incrediable story. I recommend either book.

I got this book right after I finished reading Unbroken (which was fantastic). It dwells a little more on the running aspect of Louie's life than I was interested in, and I ended up skipping a lot of that over. It's still a really good book - not half as detailed as Unbroken - but still a page turner.

An excellent story of WWII's Pacific theatre, told by someone who was there and saw it happen. Louie Zamperini is an extraordinary man with enough adventures for at least 4 lifetimes!

A great book for anyone interested in history, WWII, Japan, or real-life adventures. Also a great companion to Laura Hillenbrand's "Unbroken."

I have finished the book in awe. I purchased hard cover for my husband and he cant put it down. I had no idea the ordeals our service people went thru at that time. And the fact that he relied on our Lord to see him thru this is amazing. Such hardships and trials. Great book.

The book is interesting in the manner it was written, witty & funny, & seriuous. First it starts with all the troubles he gets into as a kid, finally realizing that he is getting no where. He finally listens to his older brother and makes something of his life. A witty written that keeps you wondering what will happen next.

A must read for anyone who is young & does not know anything about World War II & the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. This is also a good read for oldies as well.

To be repetitive, this is a very good book. I hope I can find more books as interesting as this one.

Very interesting and compelling book. Inspirational and generally a great read, a slightly better than Hillenbrand's "Unbroken" in my mind. That said, I agree with those who think some of those stories were exaggerated to the point of being far-fetched. The subject is a national hero in every sense, but embellishment is not helpful and some of it was done at the expense of the other crew members. All but one did not live to tell their story. Rensin and Zamperini both failed to properly acknowledge the crew of that doomed airplane, they listed their names on one page. In fact they treated the others with a certain contempt. I'm painfully aware of such slights having lost a son myself to a military aircraft accident, wondering what other nonsense might have been said if anyone in his crew had lived. The most glaring example of embellishment and perhaps outright fabrication is the idea that the dead flight engineer/top turret gunner caused the crash by feathering the wrong propeller after the number one engine (left outboard) quit. In the B-24, or most any sophisticated airplane of that era, when an engine quit the propeller required "feathering" or putting the blades in a position to slice into the wind instead of leaving it in the original position to windmill causing intense vibration and drag, and all too often shaking the engine loose and dooming the airplane. Feathering a propeller was a job for the pilots. The four feathering switches on a B-24 are between the pilots above the instrument panel. The pilot looks out the window and determines which engine is in trouble and feathers the appropriate prop. The book notes the pilots had exchanged seats sometime prior to losing the engine which may have disoriented them, a reasonable assertion. It does not seem logical to lose an engine at 800 feet and have the Flight engineer come up to diagnose which engine it was and reach over the pilots and feather the prop. The B-24 could fly safely losing two engines on one side if the pilots functioned as a team according to the flight manual. The plane was not in a dive etc so it should have been quite controllable until a prop was feathered on a good engine. So it saddens me to have the dead flight engineer blamed for the crash, especially when it seems to be far-fetched assertion. When not in the top turret or doing other functions the flight engineer sat behind the pilot where his job was to pull the life raft release handle in event of ditching into the water. No mention in the book about the flight engineer doing that properly, since the three crash survivors had the two life rafts deployed and floating. The only crew member (not on Zamperini's original crew) mentioned in the book was the tail gunner who survived the crash and portrayed in a negative way before he died a month later of starvation and exposure. I wish someone could have conveyed, to this national hero and his gifted storyteller, that an even better story could have been told had the others been respectfully treated. Finally the character of the B-24 itself was unfairly maligned. All those airplanes were difficult to start up and fly by today's standards. The statistics show that the B-24 was no more dangerous or difficult that most of the others, they all had quirks. However, it's indisputable that the B-24 was more modern, more efficient and did as much, if not more, to win the war than the B-17 which was older, less efficient, slower and could carry half the bomb load or fly a much shorter distance than the B-24; which is why the B-24 dominated in the Pacific. The B-24 was built in greater numbers than any other WWII airplane. I'm a retired Air Force officer, but that's not why I know a little bit about the B-24. My dad was a ball gunner on that airplane. He flew combat missions out of Italy in it and it brought him home. Dad had a great affection for the B-24 and told me lots of stories about flying in it. He told me many of the technical details about it. He was always annoyed when someone said the B-17 was a better airplane for it's intended purpose, because it was not. Mr. Resin would have done better to have competently researched the plane, taken the self serving stories from the only two survivors with a grain of salt and included the other heroes who gave their lives without as much as a mention from her or their brothers-in-arms.

I've read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, but it's really interesting to read the story in Louie's voice. I especially liked reading about how he felt about going back to face his captors after the war.

A nearly unbelievably adventurous and rich life, and a fantastic story of conversion and forgiveness. Yes, there is now a more famous and successful rendering of his story, but this one is not to be left out - it is perhaps more raw and real.

If you can get past the horror of his experiences, you can see where his journey took him. He found his salvation and purpose for life in Christ. Through his conversion he not only turned his hate into forgiveness but used his newfound love to help others through their difficulties.

Louis doesn't call himself a hero, and freely admits his fears, failures and weaknesses. His story is a wonderful testament to God's mercy on and preservation of a man who didn't even know Him until much later. This is a book about the patience and love of God, who drew Lou to Him.