Band Of Brothers

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Summary: This is an excellent book about the common airborne soldier
Review: This book is one of the better American written books about ww2, personal narratives and anecdotes makes Ambrose's booj a treat to read. A ww2 buff's collection is seriously defecient without this book.

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Summary: One of the best unit histories ever written
Review: One of the best unit histories ever written. Ambrose picks up the men of Easy Company from the day they are formed up in 1942 - even before, telling why a parachute division is seen as necessary - and follows them through training, to England, to their first parachute jump into Normandy and through the end of the war and even afterwards. Great personal stories, great author insight and a deep respect for the men of Easy Company and the bond they formed which has lasted until now. I'd give this book to any military fan. My first question on learning a person has earned jump wings is, "Have you read Band of Brothers?'" Bill Earls

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Summary: Outstanding..Buy it!
Review: Oral history at its finest. Sadly, the World War 2 generation is dying away, and its books such as these that provide the living memory

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Summary: it's awesome
Review: This is an incredible book and I recommend it to everyone, interested in war history or not. It really hits home on how devastating war is and how many people do such incredibly heroic things. You have to read it

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Summary: Great look at a small group of heroic vets
Review: If you're coming to this book after seeing the Stephen Spielberg miniseries of the same name, know this: Yes, you will get a load of new information on the "characters" you grew to love in that series. And yes, you are likely to enjoy this book.

Stephen Ambrose wasn't the greatest pure writer in the world - he won't dazzle you with his prose - but he was adept at giving the reader revealing glimpses of life as a soldier in World War II. That's exactly what he does here in Band of Brothers, which inspired the dazzling 10-hour HBO miniseries of the same name. The day-to-day life of the WWII soldier comes alive in the pages of this book.

Crisp and fast-paced, Band of Brothers does not get as bogged down in detail his other best-known works WWII, D-Day and Citizen Soldier. For the researcher that might not be a good thing, but for the general reader (especially the casual reader simply looking for some insight into WWII) it provides a good read that educates AND entertains. That's a valuable mix in bringing history to the masses.

Those who have read both Citizen Solider and D-Day might appreciate the brief dip back into Ambrose waters, but they might also be turned off by the anecdotes from those books repeated here. It appears much of the research that went into those books was also used for Band of Brothers. That's not to say there is nothing new here. There is. This is a book smaller in scope because the focus is on one company - Easy Company of the 101st Airborne.

Ambrose takes us from training to the end of the war, following the successes and failings of Easy Company. We experience their story in their own voice, as remembered by the actual men of Easy Company. The book is a great standalone read, and makes for a fabulous supplement to the miniseries.

Band of Brothers is a good, solid World War II read that should satisfy all save the most scholarly of WWII readers. They would be better off avoiding this in lieu of a tome more dense with information. This is history for mass appeal. At its core, Band of Brothers is a book that allows a group of WWII vets to recount old war stories. And that makes for some enjoyable reading.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful piece of history
Review: Band of Brothers follows an elite group of soldiers in World War II. Did I say "an" elite group? I may be understating them a bit; from this book, they appear to be one of the greatest collection of soldiers to ever face combat, a group a young men who excelled in all endeavors and played a major part in winning the Second World War.

Once you understand how much material is covered in this book, you will be amazed it is told in a mere 300 pages. While much is gained from this thrifty narrative (it is really hard to put down), it does becoming confusing for those of us who aren't familiar with the content. I have a hard time with some of the military terminology (I don't know which is higher, 1st or 2nd lieutenant). Ambrose doesn't slow down to explain these things either. He zips right on to the next training mission or engagement. This isn't a book about the military in general. Rather, it is a tightly focused account of one group's experience in WWII, from training to their post-war lives.

Easy Company is also a very large group, making it nearly impossible to keep all the names straight. Ambrose doesn't want to focus on a few people, because greatness was found in the actions of many. Therefore, it at times becomes difficult to recall who exactly is at the center of the story playing out. The men all seem to become a conglomerate, one nameless, faceless soldier who does everything.

Those may be two problems I have with the novel, but don't read this as a negative review at all. This is a powerful and important book. I am in awe of the brave, young men who signed up for Easy Company, knowing they would have the hardest training and most difficult assignments in the war. To a man, the boys answered they wanted this challenge so they could trust the man beside them in battle. The only way to know you are surrounded by the best is to become the best yourself, and these boys did that.

I am humbled by reading their exploits and feel blessed to share a country and a flag with these men. I only fear I will be haunted by these tales, as I realize it will be hard to do as much with my life as these men did with theirs; they did indeed set the bar high for the rest of us.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: Band of Brothers(1992). A Non-Fiction novel by Stephen E. Ambrose.

In World War II, as Hitler and The Third Reich rose up against Europe, America's brave young soldiers were deployed into an event the world will never forget. In the Army, many fine soldiers gave their lives to defend our freedom, and, to this day, no battalion was as decorated and remembered as well as the 101st Airborne Division. As good as any rifle company in the world, Easy Company, part of the 101st Airborne Division, was responsible for parachuting into Normandy on D-Day, freezing in the Battle of the Bulge, and liberating Hitler's Eagle Nest at Berchtesgaden. Although they suffered causalities of over 125%, Easy Company remained intact, a band of brothers until the end. With all the heroics and legendary tales about Easy Company, it's no surprise that Stephen E. Ambrose, author of D-Day and Citizen Soldiers, recounted the history of Easy Company. Drawing from hours of research and interviews, Ambrose recounted the stories of these American heroes, and his effort turned into a New York Times Bestseller and a very successful HBO miniseries. So, was the book your typical history novel, or a breathtaking history of Easy Company? Read on to find out...

Plot-

The United States is at war, and to preserve our freedom, they must fight for liberty and peace with the nation's finest, the elite soldiers who do what they must to protect our country. No matter where you came from, may it be the North, South, Midwest, or California, World War II soldiers shared a common bond with each other, a sense of comradeship that lasted through life until death. For Easy Company, 101st Airborne, the dreadful Camp Toccoa brought them together. There, the company faced the harshest tasks, from running 25-miles to doing a thousand push-ups, and the soldiers felt the same aches and scars together. After months of intense physical workouts and numerous parachuting exercises, General Patton is ready to deploy Easy Company for their first mission. As part of an elaborate plan (D-Day), Easy Company is ordered to take out the numerous gun batteries around Normandy to provide cover for the infantry coming from Omaha Beach. In that day, Easy Company showed valor and courage beyond imagination: with just about 50 men, Easy Company inflicted casualties four times that. After that, Easy Company was shipped off to Holland to help with Operation MARKET-GARDEN, and fight in the subzero temperatures of the Battle of the Bulge. Easy Company was also the first army regiment to take Berchtesgaden, a nazi stronghold. Throughout their adventures, Easy Company became world-renowned, taking place in the most important battles of World War II, and receiving massive attention. To this day, Easy Company's adventures are still being researched today, and their legacy will live on forever.

Writing/Opinions-

I don't like non-fiction, much less historical non-fiction. Even though, I've always been fascinated by war and its aftermath, and I was a big fan of the TV miniseries 'Band of Brothers', so I decided to pick this novel for a project. Fortunately, I didn't write this novel off, because, this is by far the best book about World War II I've ever read, and it kept me interested on every page. Stephen E. Ambrose extensively and thoroughly researched Easy Company, compiling hours and hours of interviews from survivors and studying journals, so this novel could catch every little thing, and the results are breathtakingly surreal. I wondered many times where Ambrose could have gotten some of his facts, but they're all documented. Ambrose lays the battle scenes out with perfect precision, never missing a beat, keeping the reader enthralled on the field of battle, and even when Easy Company's taking a break from war! Ambrose is a magnificent historian, and it shows in his work!

Overall, 'Band of Brothers' is an excellent novel on World War II and Easy Company, and the books fast-pace and realism kept me interested all the way through. Every scene was intense and passionate, and Ambrose never fails to miss even the most unimportant information. If a biography could get more specific, I'd like to see it! Ambrose excels in writing and research, and that really shows in his non-fiction, which reads like any fiction novel.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO FANS OF WORLD WAR II, HISTORY, THE 101ST AIRBORNE, OR STEPHEN AMBROSE. HISTORY NOVELS DON'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS! IF YOU LIKED THE MOVIE, CHECK THIS OUT!

Also Recommended-

Band of Brothers- DVD
D-Day- Stephen E. Ambrose
Undaunted Courage- Stephen E. Ambrose

Thanks for reading!

Rating:
Summary: Good Topic, Boring Writing
Review: I read this book as part of my outside reading requirement in AP U.S. History. The teacher had this book in his classroom bookshelf so I borrowed it to read. I enjoyed the story but I thought it didn't develop the different scenarios to make it exciting. Since it is history, and since the situations are probably inherently exciting without embellishment, the author probably didn't feel the need to dramatize the action. But for me (who doesn't know much about WW2), I didn't understand a lot of what was going on because Ambrose doesn't explain what different things are. A glossary would be nice. Also I didn't really like the way Ambrose just seemed to talk to the soldier named Webster who kept saying how he never volunteered for extra work. Ambrose seems to use Webster as an authority on how things happened. Just because he went to Harvard doesn't make him the sensitive intellectual that Ambrose likes to paint him as. Other than that, good book, but could have used more group pictures or at least more generic pictures to show how parachuters look when they fall from planes. All the quoting of Webster just makes the whole thing less heroic. MAybe they did just do what they had to do, but if that's the case Webster shouldn't be the one judging who is a hero and who is not one.

Rating:
Summary: One correction
Review: R.A. Forzyk's 1-star review has at least one glaring error itself.

"It gets worse. Ambrose asserts that Winters "is contemptuous of exaggeration," but the following account of E Company in Normandy flatly exposes this as a lie: "So was Winters [outstanding]. He made one right decision after another ...he personally killed more Germans and took more risks than anyone else." So Winters killed more Germans than the company machine-gunners? He took more risks than the men on point? Interestingly, Winters was never wounded."

That passage was in reference to the battle at the crossroads in Belgium, not Normandy.

Rating:
Summary: B.O.B. is fair quality, but not fair in its outlook on WW2
Review: First of all, I was very entertained by the Band of Brothers miniseries on HBO a couple of years ago, and my interest in that show encouraged me to buy the book upon which it is based.

While I enjoyed this book (I especially enjoyed reading about what the men of Easy Company did after the war, though I felt this section of the book was far too skimpy and brief) I also felt that it did a bit of disservice to other fighting units for the sake of praising Easy Company.

I especially took offense to Ambrose's quote of an Easy Company soldier (Major Winters himself) referring to USAAF men as "air force slobs." I will concede and praise Easy company for their heroics, however to refer to air force crew as "slobs" is utterly insulting. Ambrose wrote "Wile Blue," about B-24 bomber units, so he himself should have known of the absolutely catastrophic death rate for air force crew even into 1945, when the 3rd Reich was on its last legs. He needs only to take one look at the list of bomber crew who successfully completed the 24 mission (later lengthened to even more missions) tour of duty to see how relatively few managed to do it before getting blasted to pieces by flak, having 30mm cannon shells from Fw190s crashing into their bodies, or the depressing horror (before late 1944) of watching fighter escort turn for home and leaving the bombers alone to the enemy fighters for the rest of the trip. The frosbite suffered by easy company on one campaign was a constant companion for all air crew. Ask any former B-17 pilot what it was like to come home with dead crew, wounded crew, many of whom were just high school boys, and it is clear how close the crew of any bomber became in combat.

I also felt is was unfair of Ambrose to praise the 506th easy company regiment at the expense of other divisions of the airborne (17th and 82nd) and even at the expense of other units of the 101st. Naturally men from any unit will think highly of themselves (and deservedly so), and this IS a book only about E company, however Ambrose sort of gives the impression (I know he didn't mean to, but that's how he came off to me) that the American army was just so-so and the men of easy company were better than them all. Really? I think the men of the 82nd might have something to say about that. Or the ranger battallions. Or men of the Coldstream Guards. Or the men of Liebstandarte Adolf Hitler and Das Reich at Kharkov 1943, or Colonel Student's paratroopers at Crete 1941. Or men of the 3rd Army. Or the men of the Eight Air Force. If it weren't for the air force crippling the Luftwaffe I highly doubt Easy Company could have succeeded as they did. German fighters would have eaten the Normandy drop for dinner, and strafed everything in sight. That they did not is a tribute to the "air force slobs."