About this title: Historian Ambrose tells of the combat experiences of soldiers in the crack U.S. Army Airborne division that led the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. The interviews on which this book is based were conducted by Ambrose as research for his book, D-DAY.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780743224543ISBN:074322454X
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Pocket
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780743464116ISBN:0743464117
Description: Acceptable. MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"The HBO miniseries Band of Brothers came out several years ago, but we just saw it recently. The military tactics and details were fascinating, and the relationships were touching.
Reading the book gave me a better understanding of where the paratroopers came from, how motivated they were, and how demanding their physical training really was. The descriptions of their experiences are really detailed and engaging. Ambrose doesn't hide his admiration for the main subjects of the book, such as Dick Winters. At the same time, even toward people that Winters didn't especially like or respect, Ambrose seems to be careful to be as fair and truthful as he can. The character of Lt. Sobel is basically a villain in the miniseries, but the book paints him as a more complex and tragic figure. While Sobel made his men miserable, he also made them tough.
My two favorite characters in the miniseries, the medic Eugene Roe and Lt. Nixon, were not nearly so prominent in the book. Presumably when they made the miniseries they interviewed a lot of the subjects directly and dug into more of the stories of Easy Company. The scene where the soldiers come across the horrific work camp is also much less emphasized by Ambrose, and some events in the book are conflated in the miniseries for a more streamlined story. I think the makers of the show made good decisions in translating the book to the screen.
All and all, just a terrific book that made me want to read more about WWII soldiers."
"I've been wanting this book ever since I saw the HBO Series Band of Brothers. I finally bought this triumphantly for $3.99 at Borders! All of Ambrose books were $3.99 so I might pick up another one of his books--maybe.
Band of Brothers follows the story of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne from their training through their European campaign and finally to Hitler's Eagle's nest. The book has a ton of soldiers that were mentioned that it was a little hard keeping track of them all. The only reason why I have a pretty easy time sorting them from one another was because of the HBO series. And of course the prominent figures were Major Winters, Captain Sobel, and Colonel Sink.
The life of a soldier during World War II was intimately portrayed with Ambrose doing a lot of research and interviews from surviving paratroopers. Getting lost was easy if you're not used to reading about war tactics (which I wasn't). It was really well written and a lot of work was put in it but I felt there were just way too many people that were mentioned and were involved that I felt a little detached. I felt that Ambrose could have mentioned more on how the soldiers felt when they saw the work camps (instead of just a mere paragraph) or how they felt when they saw their buddies dying around them.
A little detached when it came to emotional parts but overall an entertaining read. I loved it. Read it"
"Stephen Ambrose (or whoever wrote the material he used) relates the history of Easy Company 506 PIR from Camp Toccoa where they were trained to Berchtesgaden at the war's end and how they remained close after the war despite the geographical separation.
Though no great stylist, Ambrose (or whoever) moves the story along easily and clearly. That's the good news.
The bad news is that, 1) He plays fast and loose with the facts. For example he says that Fritz Niland was not immediately pulled off the line when it was thought that his three brothers were killed within three weeks of each other. One of his brothers ultimately survived the war. And his mother did not receive three telegrams the same day. This apparently served, however as the seed for the grossly overrated Saving Private Ryan. Facts maybe stupid things, as Ronald Reagan once said, but that doesn't work for Oprah (see James Frey). 2) He annoyingly sprinkles insider jargon throughout the book as if he was one of the boys. It made me cringe when my father said groovy in an effort to fit in and it made me cringe in this book. 3) He perpetuates the hagiography of WWII as the good war, the victors as the greatest generation, and of America as inherently morally superior. At one point he refers to Easy company's successes as a triumph of democracy over all others. At the same time he contradicts himself throughout the book by emphasizing the fact that Captain Sobel, the hated martinet who was anything but fair and democratic was the key factor in what made Easy, Easy.
None of this is meant to denigrate or diminish the achievements, courage and integrity of the men of Easy Company. They would, however, be better served if those accomplishments were set in more historically accurate and truthful context. How do their reasons for fighting differ from the more complex geopolitical reasons of the military and political leaders? We'll get no answers here."
"Over the last month, I have been watching the HBO series in 3-episode sessions with my friends. Upon learning that it was based on a book (and not a 1,000-page tome), I decided to read it. The source material matches the silver screen's raw, gritty depiction of the 101st Airborn's journey from the training grounds of Taccoa to Berchtesgaden.
Ambrose's narrative style is mixed. It treats the actual battle scenes with much indifference, rarely sentimentalizing specific events as they happen, or taking time to play on the reader's emotions. He constantly switches from one area of combat to the next, emphasizing the chaos and suddenness of war. Sometimes, it feels as though he doesn't want to get too attached to these soldiers, knowing they might be one false step away from nearby shelling. But when the battles are over, in the moments between, Ambrose breathes life into these brave young men, revealing their personalities and quirks.
It is amazing to think that a US soldier could experience both the frantic rush of Normandy and the takeover of the Eagle's Nest during his time in the infantry. Band of Brothers is a great (if not, a little too often, grammatically flawed) read because it gives war heroes their due credit, while at the same time, showing us a soldier's humility. When I read that Major Richard "Dick" Winters, a soldier's soldier and true inspiration for Easy Company, was only 26 when he commanded his battalion, my jaw dropped.
I do believe the floodgates of World War II literature have been opened for me."
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