Band Of Brothers

Rating:
Summary: Please, not another Ambrose-paint by numbers book!
Review: Drivel.
Pure drivel.
If one wishes the honest re-telling of history & not self-serving distortion or histrionic hyperbole, stay away from Stephen Ambrose. After reading a few of his books I crown him the Jackie Collins of historical fiction.
Why one star? It's the lowest rating they offer.

Rating:
Summary: A Detailed Well-Written Account
Review: Stephen Ambrose has written another excellent book on WWII, this time from the perspective of Easy Company, arguably the top rifle company in the entire war. What makes his writing special is his access to first hand eyewitness accounts of WWII veterans, to give readers an incredibly detailed portrayal of what is was like to be on the front line, from training through the end of the war.

One thing to keep in mind is that this book was written by Mr. Ambrose for Easy Company, NOT for himself. A lot of his writing revolves around eyewitness accounts, and naturally an item may be misconstrued or stated in a way that favors Easy Company. Some may be quick to point out flaws in the testimonials, but don't let this take away from the book. Every minute invested in reading this book is worth it.

Ambrose readers shouldn't pass this book up, and I hope those who watched the miniseries would read the book as well. The people of Easy Company, and everyone who fought the war, earned this book.

Rating:
Summary: Volunteer Citizen Soldiers with Guts and Character
Review: Stephen Ambrose provides yet another readable and enjoyable book with "Band of Brothers". Certainly not his best work (Citizen Soldiers and D-Day are much better), but he does, in my humble (maybe "uneducated") opinion do the men of E Company, 101st Airborne justice with this snippet of their time spend training, fighting and post war living. This relatively short (some 300ish pages) book is an easy read that one can get through quickly. Yet, unlike Citizen Soldier, which I had a hard time putting down, Band of Brothers is easier to walk away from and then come back to - although I must stress that I always came back to it. Many of the accounts in Band of Brothers are just too brief and leave the reader thirsting for more. In the end though I was not so much disappointed with the book as I was wishing there had been more to digest and think about. If this is the first Ambrose book you read, don't be discouraged from reading others of his - he is a great author, Band of Brothers is solid but not his best.

Rating:
Summary: Does This book exist in Large Print?
Review: All the important people that need to read this book can't see that well anymore. Is there anyway we can help them?

Rating:
Summary: The Purple Heart was a badge of office.
Review: BAND OF BROTHERS is about the close relationship of the soldiers who volunteered for Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. It follows them through Normandy, the Arnhem campaign in Holland, The Battle of The Bulge, and the capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's Eagle's Nest. I had previously read Ambrose's CITIZEN SOLDIERS, which had enough characters to make a Russian novelist proud. Like a journalist, Ambrose would fully identify a soldier the first time he's mentioned, then assume the reader knows whom he's talking about thereafter. With BAND OF BROTHERS there's more of a focus. Captain Herbert Sobel, the first C.O. of Easy Company gets a lot of attention. Sobel was a training officer, pretty much hated by the men. Lieutenant Richard Winters, who was cool under fire, is the exact opposite. Forty-seven years later he still receives letters from some of the regular troopers. Of the enlisted men, I found Pvt. David Webster the most intriguing. Before the war, he was a Harvard English Lit major. Ambrose uses the book he wrote about his war experience extensively.
An especially interesting part of the book was the part about the troopers' relationships with French, Dutch, Belgium, and German civilians. Their attitude toward the Germans was rather surprising.
Ambrose provides an epilogue where he details what became of the men after the war: An inordinate number of them became teachers or were involved in the construction trade. Several became millionaires. The most tragic case is that of First Sergeant Talbert, who never was able to shake the trauma of war.
If you have as much respect for the soldiers who fought in WWII as I do, you will find BAND OF BROTHERS a compelling read.

Rating:
Summary: You've seen the series, now read the book!
Review: I've read a lot of Ambrose, but for some reason I never picked up Band of Brothers until after seeing the HBO series. If you liked the series, you won't be disappointed here. You'll find that the series faithfully brought the book to life and that the book, like the series, pays due homage to the men of E Company.

This is, of course, the story of a single company of the 101st Airborne from the time of their inception to the conclusion of WWII. For these men to have experienced even one of the battles described here would be considered heroic. They literally made history and saved the world. But they experienced much more than a single battle. These men were there for Normandy, Market Garden, Bastogne, the Bulge, Berchtesgaden, etc. If you cut any one of them open they would *bleed* history.

After seeing the series and reading the book, you can't help but stand in awe of these men. Do men like Dick Winters, Guarnere, Powers, Malarkey, and others really exist? Every day citizens were turned into incredible soldiers. They came from nowhere, saved the world, and then went home again. In these days where we have a standing professional army to fight our battles, it is difficult to imagine anything like this. But there they are ambling down the street, these 80-year old men who seem to be driving too slow and sometimes get in the way. Many would rather throw them on the scrap pile. They are national treasures with incredible stories to tell and lessons to teach if only we would listen.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring to anyone who reads...
Review: From the moment you pick up "Band of Brothers", you will not want to put it down. The stories told by Ambrose of the men from E Company are awesome. From being dropped behind enemy lines the night before D-Day, to being surrounded by Germans at Bastogne, to the end of the war, the book never stops. If you want to learn about the most storied group of men during WWII, read "Band of Brothers."

Rating:
Summary: Hold on to Your Hat
Review: The author, Stephen Ambrose has become the preeminent American World War 2 historian, because of books like this one. He details the life of a Company of Airborne solders from boot camp, D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and ending at the Eagle's Nest. This is a very gripping book, not because of the detailed battle scenes, but because of the human element Ambrose brings to the book. His focus is the people involved, the average GI that was in high school 6 months earlier and how is the greatest conflict of their generation. Due to the rather high casualty count in the company you do get a view of a number of characters, not just a few. I cannot recommend this book as much as D-Day, but it is a great book for World War 2 buffs and general history readers alike. It is just a very good, fast and engrossing book that will take you not time at all to read, as you will find it difficult to put down.

Rating:
Summary: A sweeping, humane wartime epic
Review: Upon being absolutely blown-away by the expert HBO mini-series adaptation of this book I was eager to read through and learn more about the remarkable cast of characters who made up the 506 Regiment's 'Easy' Company. Ambrose does not disappoint and the bulk of this book - dealing with the training processes, descriptions of personality, psyche along with numerous humourous anecdotes are as well written as anything that i've seen in any combat/military book around. While the recounting of Easy Company's battles and detailed breakdown of squad/tactical manuevers are important and given equal attention they thankfully take a backseat to the more captivating storyline on how esprit de corp was developed over time and the value of the camarederie and brotherhood that the surviving members valued most of all. If you were a fan of the HBO mini-series and had even the tiniest inkling in learning more about this 'Band of Brothers,' you can't go wrong with this very well-written, detailed account of their story.

Rating:
Summary: Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose
Review: The smell of sweat reaches your nose and the sound of artillery fire around you fills your ears. Band of Brothers draws you into the battles and hardships of a company in the 101ST American Airborne during World War II. The training camps in America, Normandy on D-Day, and the high peaks of the Alps are only some of the places this company goes. Mr. Ambrose explains the brotherhood these men develop through all of their training and encounters with the enemy. This is a story about the best troops the U.S could provide; the officers and men of the original company are trained harder than any other type of soldier.
I have but one complaint: interviews interrupt the flow of the book. Mr. Ambrose is writing about a battle then shifts to what one man is thinking about during the battle.
However I learned a lot. For example, I learned that the Battle of the Bulge is not what everyone thinks it is. It has always been said that Patton and his army came to the rescue of the 101ST in that battle, but the 101ST was doing fine without Patton and his army.
Stephen Ambrose has gone all out on research and writing. I'd give it a 5 every time I read it. You have to read it in order to experience the feelings involved in World War II. This is World War II writing at its best.