The Boys in the Light by Nina Willner

The Boys in the Light by Nina Willner

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The Boys in the Light by Nina Willner

"This beautifully braided story...reveals the best and worst of humanity. A magnificent work of narrative nonfiction, true to the past and essential for the present."--Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of Lost in Shangri-La and 13 Hours

An epic true story of the triumph of good over evil.


The Boys in the Light follows the parallel journeys of Company D and Eddie Willner, the author's father, as they are caught up on two sides of World War II.

At sixteen, Eddie Willner was among the millions of European Jews rounded up by Hitler's Nazis. He was forced into slave labor alongside his father and his best friend, Mike, and spent the next three years of his life surviving the death camps, including Auschwitz. Meanwhile, in the United States, boys only a few years older than Eddie were joining the army and heading toward their own precarious futures. Once farmers, factory workers, and coal miners, they were suddenly untested soldiers, thrust into the brutal conflicts of WWII.

A company of 3rd Armored Division tankers, led by 23-year-old Elmer Hovland, quickly became battle-hardened and weary, constantly questioning whether the war was worth it. They got their answer when two emaciated boys stepped out of the woods with their tattooed arms raised.

The Boys in the Light is a testament to survival against all odds, the strength of the bonds forged during war and the resilience of the human spirit. This extraordinary true story is a must-read for fans of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, and Erik Larson's The Splendid and the Vile.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780593471272
ISBN 10 059347127X
Title The Boys in the Light
Author Nina Willner
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Hardback
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Year published 2025-07-22
Number of pages 384
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.