Ocean State Libraries

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared--Lt. Louis Zamperini. Captured by the Japanese and driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor.

A second installment in a planned five-part series finds Harry despairing of a marriage to Emma and joining the Merchant Navy before assuming the identity of a fallen American soldier whose past proves even more turbulent than Harry's own.

"Paris, 1939. Young, ambitious, and tempestuous, Odile Souchet has it all: Paul, her handsome police officer beau; Margaret, her best friend from England; her adored twin brother Remy; and a dream job at the American Library in Paris, working alongside the library's legendary director, Dorothy Reeder. But when World War II breaks out, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear - including her beloved library. After the invasion, as the Nazis declare...

"This powerful and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea weaves together past and present, tracing the ripple effects of war and immigration on one child in Europe in 1938 and another in the United States in 2019. Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler was six years old when his father disappeared during Kristallnacht--the night their family lost everything. Samuel's mother secured a spot for him on the last Kindertransport...

The story begins with World War II's historic D-Day invasion of Normandy beach. Once the men move beyond the beach, Captain John Miller must take his men behind the German lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have already been killed in combat. Faced with impossible odds, the men question their orders. Why are eight men risking their lives to save just one? Surrounded by the brutal realities of war, each man searches for his own...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America
In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history, James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the...

For 70,000 Marines this was more than a turning point of World War II, it was the defining moment of their lives. Explores the complicated nature of heroism, courage and patriotism in the harrowing true story of four Marines who fought the bloody battles at Iwo Jima during World War II and how a single photo emerged as one of the most evocative icons of the 20th Century.

"In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and--despite her prosthetic leg--helped to light...

Presents a social history of the United States in 1940, along with a moment-by-moment account of Roosevelt's leadership and the private lives of the president and First Lady, whose remarkable partnership transformed America.

From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to their disbanding in 1945, historian Steven Ambrose tells the story of E Company of the U.S. Army's 506th Regiment. As they advanced through Europe during World War II, the men of "Easy" Company kept getting the tough assignments, from parachuting into France early D-Day morning, to capturing Hitler's Bavarian outpost.