Review: 81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness by Brian Murphy

Title: 81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness
Author: Brian Murphy
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Publication Date: June 2, 2015
Edition: HardCover (238 pages)

81 Days Below Zero: The Incredible Survival Story of a World War II Pilot in Alaska's Frozen Wilderness by Brian Murphy

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Just before Christmas in 1943, Army Lieutenant Leon Crane, Co-pilot of a B-24 Liberator bomber flew in to the Alaskan wilderness with his crew for some routine cold weather testing. The plane became uncontrollable and crashed, leaving Leon Crane as the only survivor. Equipped with little more than a pocket knife and nylon parachute, he endured the hardship of blizzards, brutal temperatures, and near starvation.

Not only does author, Brian Murphy tell Lieutenant Crane's story, but along the way, he tells the stories of the other four crew members, as well as much of the history of flight in Alaska. He paints a vivid picture of what Leon Crane endured, and I was left on the edge of my seat wondering about the outcome, not to mention the feeling of awe for those who called the Alaskan wilderness home during WWII.