Ian Birrell

Hell or high water

As his battered bomber hurtled towards the Pacific in May 1943, Louis Zamperini thought to himself that no one was going to survive the crash.

  • Unbroken: An Extraordinary True Story of Courage and Survival by Air, Sea and Land

    Laura Hillenbrand

    4th Estate, pp. 475

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When I first saw the Ministry of Defence building splattered in blood-red paint, I assumed that it had only just happened. There were no police or protestors about but the damage was so extensive and so shocking, I felt sure it was recent. No decent government would put up with that for long. I was

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