Rating: 
Summary: Tender book about friendships
Review: Head the taped version of COMRADES: BROTHERS,
FATHERS, HEROES, SONS, PALS, a tender book by
the late historian Stephen E. Ambrose that examines the bond
formed between men as a result of both family and
circumstances . . . he looks at the lasting friendships of
various men, from Sioux Indians to his own brothers, and
analyzes the special relationship between Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark . . . in addition, he pays special tribute
to brothers, including such famous pairs as Dwight and
Milton Eisenhower, and George and Tom Customer . . . Richard
Nixon rates a special chapter and in listening to it, you begin
to understand why he was impeached (in large part because
he had very few friends).I was particularly moved by the author's last chapter,
describing his own friendship with his father--with whom he
only got close toward the end of the latter's life . . . "He was my first and always most important friend," Ambrose writes. "I didn't learn that until the end, when he taught me the most important thing,that the love of father-son-father-son is a continuum, just as love and friendship are expansive."
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose's personal personal history!
Review: I have appreciated reading Stephen Ambrose's histories of the men and women in the Second World war. They are all written in an extremely personal style. They bring to life the stories of the individuals who experienced life during the war. This book brings the best of Ambrose's style to an examination of his own life. The life of a writer, an historian and a family man. This is an absolutely fabulous book to read for anyone wondering how the heck someone like Ambrose got into writing history for us (the masses) and why he is so good at it. The book is very readable. You will finish in days!
Rating:
Summary: The audiotape captures the author's heartfelt emotion
Review: I have read most of the author's works and have enjoyed all of them. I found this audiotape particularly compelling because it captures the author's genuine emotions, especially when he talks about his father. The audiotape had a powerful impact on me that I don't think would have been as compelling had I just read the hardcopy. I have read many books in my life, but this is the very first time I ever wanted to immediately repeat a book that I had just finished reading. Thank you Mr. Ambrose.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose is the best!
Review: I loved the book Comrades. Even though I am an 18 year old girl, I have just started to read my teachers collection of Stephens' books, and so far, I liked them all. He told me that I might not like Comrades because it is all about male friendships. I think that it helped me figure out my male friends better.
Rating: 
Summary: A quick read with a lasting impression
Review: I picked up this book in the airport as I headed off for a 4 hour flight. I knew that given its author it would be an interesting "quick read". I had enjoyed many other books by Ambrose and looked forward to another. In this short compilation Ambrose explores the relationships between men as "brothers, fathers, heroes, sons and pals". Similar to his other works, this book examines its topics through the lives of specific people -- Ambrose himself, his father and brothers, and others he has met or researched. What emerges is a theme of loyalty, fealty and connection that is unique and binding. True to my estimation this book was enjoyable and easy to read. Ambrose draws few conclusions but rather allows the reader to discover the simultaneous complexity and simplicity of these disparate relationships. In an age where pop psychologists diagnose and prescribe broad generalisms about gender and relationships it is nice to find someone who appreciates men for who and what they are. I look forward to Ambrose's next work.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose is a great story-teller.
Review: I really enjoyed listening to this book on tape. This one is actually read by Ambrose. In this book he draws upon all his previous works and experiences to talk about friendship.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Idea But Uncertain Execution
Review: I so wanted to like this book. I had the right expectation. I knew it wasn't one of Ambrose's usual war stories. I didn't expect a lot of psychological jargon either. I knew that Ambrose was a man's man writing about fathers, brothers, comrades in arms and other fundamentally male relationships. But I was disappointed. There was no lesson. There was little inspiration. I met several men, great (Eisenhower) and small (Ambrose's brothers), but I really didn't get to know them or learn much from them. I didn't expect sentimentality, but I expected some meaning, some synthesis, some higher purpose. But this is just a nice little book about men and with a portrait of the friendships of several famous people interspersed with a few Ambrose family stories. I like the stories, but I didn't learn much. What was the father's life lesson he wanted to pass on? We aren't told. What is the great secret of male friendships? There are some hints, but not much. What can I teach my son about what it means to be a man or how to earn the respect of men? We have a few tentative conclusions and little that's new. The reader will enjoy meeting the men in this book, but its all about male bonding. The deepest lessons are left unsaid.
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointingly short and shallow volume
Review: I'm in agreement with other reviews, that this work has nothing new to offer. Each chapter leaves you flat, where you want more detail. The book never deals directly with the very core of male relationships, but dances around the issue with overly simplified anecdotes from key figures' lives.
Rating:
Summary: A GREAT, EASY, INSPIRING READ
Review: I'm not a historian, but I am a son, and I have a father and many friends. This book, using his own life and his influential father as well as the lives of the Eisenhower boys, the Custer boys, Crazy Horse and He Dog, Eisenhower and Patton, and Nixon, poignantly and emotionally demonstrates the immense joy, satisfaction, and power that is to be had in the relationships that can only be shared between father and son and between two best friends. Reading Ambrose's heartfelt musings, I was often reminded of my own relationship with my father. I bought him one and he had the same reaction, thinking of both his father and me. Having read the majority of Ambrose's works from which he pulled the short chapters for Comrades, I was perhaps even that much more moved by the essays. Using quick summaries and then providing insight gained from his years of research and life experience, Ambrose shows how the intimacy among friends and family drive can help drive us to much greater heights than would have been possible alone. I strongly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting introductory reader of other Ambrose books
Review: If you have read several of Stephen Ambrose's books, you will be reading excerpts from several of them in this short compilation-style book. There are some new chapters that deal with people Ambrose has been freinds with for several years, but the overall goal of the book is to allow a reader to see the value of bonds of friendship among men in history. Examples include Dwight and Milton eisenhower, people of Easy Comapny (Band of Brothers), Custer and Sitting Bull, and others. This moves quickly, since it is not in-depth, and can be read in one evening if really attempted. The writing is sharp and lyrical, well-done, but readers should not expect a thick, detailed effort more common in all of Ambrose's works. Call this one the greatest hits, or even the "flashback" book, such as TV shows use to look back on their long run of shows and their favorite moments.
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