Author Guide · Narrative Nonfiction
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Laura Hillenbrand was 19 and in her second year at Kenyon College when, in 1987, she fell ill on the drive back from spring break; she was later diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and for years vertigo kept her inside her house in Washington, D.C. From there she wrote two of the best-selling nonfiction books of the century: one about a small, stubby-legged racehorse that became the biggest newsmaker of 1938, the other about an Olympic runner who survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific and then Japanese prison camps. Both were made into Hollywood films, and together they had sold more than 13 million copies by 2016. This guide covers her 3 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 3 key books · 2001–2014 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Laura Hillenbrand has written two full-length books: Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001) and Unbroken (2010), plus a young-adult adaptation of Unbroken (2014). Start with Seabiscuit, the Depression-era racing story that made her name; Unbroken, the life of the Olympian and prisoner of war Louis Zamperini, is the more famous of the two.
Where to Start with Laura Hillenbrand
If you want the book that made her name
→ Seabiscuit (2001) — the 1938 racehorse and the three men behind him.
If you want her most famous book
→ Unbroken (2010) — Louis Zamperini’s war, from the Berlin Olympics to a Japanese camp.
If you are buying for a teenager
→ Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation) (2014) — the same story at roughly half the length, with photographs.
If you have seen the films
→ Unbroken (2010) — the book covers Zamperini’s life after the war in far more detail.
3 Laura Hillenbrand Books, in Order
Seabiscuit
The story of an undersized racehorse, written off by the racing establishment, and the three men who turned him into the biggest newsmaker of 1938: the car dealer Charles Howard, the mustang breaker and trainer Tom Smith, and the failed boxer and jockey Red Pollard. It builds to the 1938 match race against War Admiral. It grew out of her 1998 American Heritage article, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and became the 2003 film Seabiscuit, nominated for seven Academy Awards.
Unbroken
The life of Louis Zamperini, a teenage thief turned runner who finished eighth in the 5,000 metres at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. As a bombardier, his B-24 Green Hornet came down in the Pacific in May 1943; he survived 47 days on a raft, then Japanese prison camps, where a guard, Mutsuhiro Watanabe, known as “the Bird”, singled him out. The last part follows his post-war breakdown and recovery. Time named it the best nonfiction book of 2010, and it had sold more than 5.5 million copies by 2014.
Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation)
A version of Unbroken for readers aged 12 and up, published by Delacorte Press in November 2014, weeks before the film came out. It is roughly half the length of the original, leaves out some of the most harrowing episodes, spends less time on Zamperini’s post-war drinking, and adds photographs.
In What Order to Read Laura Hillenbrand
The two books are unconnected, so the order does not matter much. Reading them in publication order shows how her method carried over: both are about the 1930s and early 1940s, both are built from newspapers, letters and interviews, and both follow an unpromising underdog into national fame.
Choose either the original Unbroken or the young-adult adaptation, not both: the second is a shortened version of the first, not a new book.
A reading path
1. Seabiscuit (2001)
2. “A Sudden Illness” (2003), her essay in The New Yorker
3. Unbroken (2010)
Her Magazine Writing
Beyond the 3 key books: 2 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Selected essays
2
2 books · 1998–2003
- 1998Four Good Legs Between Usher American Heritage article on Seabiscuit, which won an Eclipse Award and led to the book
- 2003A Sudden Illnessher New Yorker essay about living with chronic fatigue syndrome; National Magazine Award 2004
The years · 1967–2015
Quick facts about Laura Hillenbrand
- Known for
- Laura Hillenbrand is known for writing two blockbuster works of narrative history about underdogs of the 1930s and 1940s while largely housebound by chronic fatigue syndrome.
- 1967
- Born in Fairfax, Virginia
- 1987
- Falls ill at Kenyon College, aged 19
- 2001
- Seabiscuit
- 2010
- Unbroken
- 2015
- Leaves Washington, D.C., for Oregon
- Born
- 15 May 1967, Fairfax, Virginia; grew up riding on her father’s farm in Sharpsburg, Maryland
- Education
- Kenyon College, Ohio; left in her second year when she fell ill
- Illness
- Chronic fatigue syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis) since 1987
- Honours
- Two Eclipse Awards; William Hill Sports Book of the Year (2001); National Magazine Award (2004)
- Sales
- More than 13 million copies of her two books combined, reported in 2016
- Lives
- Oregon
The red mark is 2010: Unbroken, her biography of the Olympian and prisoner of war Louis Zamperini.
How Laura Hillenbrand Writes: History Told Like a Campfire Story
Hillenbrand’s illness shaped her research. Vertigo made archive work all but impossible (“I can’t look at microfiche”, she told The New York Times Magazine in 2014), so she worked from home: she bought original 1930s newspapers on eBay, starting with The New York Times for the week of 16 August 1936, and read them to get a feel for the period. For Unbroken, Zamperini sent her his diary and scrapbooks.
She writes history as story: scene by scene, through a few people, with suspense held back for a race or a rescue. She has said she likes “to write books that sound like someone telling the story over a campfire”, and that listening to books read aloud taught her to hear “that music of the language”. Detail does the work that commentary would do elsewhere: track times, the rations on a raft, the routine of a prison camp.
Both books choose an unlikely subject, a cast-off horse and a teenage thief turned Olympian, and follow it through public triumph into physical ordeal. For other writers who turn archives into narrative, see Authors like Erik Larson.
Watch
Laura Hillenbrand on finding Louis Zamperini
Hillenbrand talks to Richard Hsu about how she came across Louis Zamperini’s story while researching Seabiscuit, his diary and scrapbooks, and what her own illness had to do with the book.
Frequently asked questions about Laura Hillenbrand’s books
How many books has Laura Hillenbrand written?
Two full-length books, Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001) and Unbroken (2010), plus a young-adult adaptation of Unbroken (2014). That makes three books on this page. She has also written magazine essays, including “A Sudden Illness” for The New Yorker (2003).
What are Laura Hillenbrand’s books in order?
Seabiscuit: An American Legend (2001), Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010) and Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation) (2014).
Where should I start with Laura Hillenbrand?
With Seabiscuit, the book that made her name; it is shorter and lighter than Unbroken. If you already know you want the war story, start with Unbroken. For readers aged 12 and up, the young-adult adaptation is about half the length.
What is Laura Hillenbrand’s most famous book?
Unbroken (2010), her biography of Louis Zamperini. Time named it the best nonfiction book of 2010, it had sold more than 5.5 million copies by 2014, and it was filmed by Angelina Jolie.
Were Laura Hillenbrand’s books made into films?
Both were. Seabiscuit (2003), directed by Gary Ross with Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges and Chris Cooper, was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Unbroken (2014), directed by Angelina Jolie with Jack O’Connell as Zamperini, opened on Christmas Day 2014; a sequel, Unbroken: Path to Redemption, followed in 2018.
Is Unbroken a true story?
Yes. It is a biography of Louis Zamperini (1917–2014), based on interviews with him and other survivors, his diary and wartime records. Zamperini died on 2 July 2014, a few months before the film was released.
Why was Unbroken controversial in Japan?
Japanese nationalists objected to the book’s account of the treatment of prisoners of war, especially its statement that some Japanese soldiers practised cannibalism, and called the story anti-Japanese. There were calls to boycott Angelina Jolie’s film, which did not open in Japan until February 2016, at one small Tokyo cinema. Some historians say cannibalism by Japanese soldiers did occur; the film itself does not show it.
Does Laura Hillenbrand have chronic fatigue syndrome?
Yes. She fell ill in 1987, aged 19, and was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, which she now also calls myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.). For many years severe vertigo kept her at home in Washington, D.C.; her New Yorker essay “A Sudden Illness” (2003), which won the National Magazine Award, describes it.
Is Laura Hillenbrand writing a new book?
She has not published a new book since Unbroken in 2010 and its young-adult adaptation in 2014, and no new title has been announced.
Is Laura Hillenbrand still alive?
Yes. She was born on 15 May 1967 in Fairfax, Virginia, and lives in Oregon.
Footnotes
- Laura Hillenbrand — Wikipedia
- Unbroken (book) — Wikipedia
- Seabiscuit — Kirkus Reviews, 2001
- An Olympian, battered but unbroken by war — NPR, 2010
- Laura Hillenbrand — official site
- Unbroken finally opens in Japan — Northwest Asian Weekly, 2016
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“I like to write books that sound like someone telling the story over a campfire.”
— Laura Hillenbrand, interviewed on Brendan O’Meara’s Creative Nonfiction Podcast (2018)
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