Despite Ambrose being a historian, there was a few things I disagreed with immediately. His views on war crimes was one, and the the other one that stood out was the comments about men go off to war for an adventure, and to become "real men." Correct me if I'm wrong, but that particular statement is completely childish, as well totally demeaning.

Producers Guild of America Awards winners". United Press International. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020 . Retrieved June 7, 2014. Overall, the show does a great job putting all this on the screen, so you can skip the book. What the show left out it usually left out for good reasons. I read this book for any gems that were left by the wayside, but it's not worth it, in my opinion. First, there is absolutely no tension or drama in the story. Instead of taking oral histories and spinning them into a narrative, Ambrose elects to directly quote the men he has interviewed. Now, I’m sure this saved him a great deal of time when it came to actually writing, but it tells you right away who lives, and to a lesser extent, who dies. If you like vividness, the sensation of being there – look elsewhere. This is the cutting and pasting of transcribed interviews. Grater, Tom (August 17, 2018). " 'Band Of Brothers' showrunner Erik Jendresen on US TV industry: 'the fear of failure is extraordinary' ". Screen International . Retrieved August 24, 2022.Easy Company is forgiven with a boys will be boys attitude when they have their leave pass's revoked for appalling behaviour, on the other hand others? No such leeway. While the deeds on Easy Company, encompassing the most famous American battles in the ETO, are a goldmine, mr. Ambrose fails to preserve the thrill in print. The participants don't come to life, even tough they are introduced with the standard sort of pre-war bio in the body of the text and rounded up with a post-war bio. The heat of battle, ironically, is only felt in the icy cold of an Ardennes winter: "they got through the Bulge because they had become a band of brothers" James, Caryn (September 7, 2001). "TV Weekend; An Intricate Tapestry Of a Heroic Age". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020 . Retrieved August 24, 2008.

Philip French of The Guardian commented that he had "seen nothing in the cinema this past year that impressed me as much as BBC2's 10-part Band of Brothers, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and Ken Loach's The Navigators on Channel 4", and that it was "one of the best films ever made about men in war and superior in most ways to Saving Private Ryan." [51] Matt Seaton, also in The Guardian, wrote that the film's production was "on such a scale that in an ad hoc, inadvertent way it gives one a powerful sense of what really was accomplished during the D-Day invasion - the extraordinary logistical effort of moving men and matériel in vast quantities." [52] Mifflin, Lawrie (December 2, 1998). "TV Notes: World War II, The Mini-Series". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020 . Retrieved July 15, 2019. Downey, Kevin (October 31, 2001). "The two hit shows TV buyers dissed". Media Life. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008 . Retrieved July 8, 2015. Sadly though, once the story got past Bastogne, it slowed down quite a bit and didn't ever really recover any kind of momentum, and I really missed the interpersonal relationships of the soldiers that we saw in the show. It just wasn't as emotionally intense as the show was by a long shot.a b Levin, Gary (January 9, 2001). " 'Brothers' invades fall lineup HBO's WWII miniseries battles network premieres". USA Today. Este libro es la historia de la compañía E del 506 regimiento de la 101 división aerotransportada a lo largo de la segunda guerra mundial. Stephen E. Ambrose fue un destacado cronista de esta guerra. The epigraph is a quotation from Shakespeare's Henry V, from which the title of the book is derived: [1] :iv Bennett, Roger (November 11, 2021). "Band of Brothers Podcast". Apple Podcasts. Home Box Office . Retrieved August 21, 2023. Band of Brothers". Golden Globes Awards. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014 . Retrieved June 7, 2014.

I will try to avoid gushing, but I am in awe of what these guys did and what they sacrificed. To say that whole generation of people was an inspiration is an understatement. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944 - May 7, 1945 (1997) The History Book ...: 2. NO ORDINARY TIME ~ CHAPTERS 2 - 3 ( 40– 80) (10/26/09 - 11/01/09) ~ No spoilers, please And that is in essence the problem, the dilemma if you will. The only thing that does somewhat "save" this book IS the subject: the story of the elite military outfit -exclusively composed of volunteers - of Easy Company, which played such a crucial part in the Western European theatre of war. It performed the function of Johnny-on-the-spot in the most significant operations during WW II : D-Day, Operation Market Garden, The Battle of the Bulge and, as icing on the cake, the capture of Hitler's own Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgarden. They went through abject hell, suffered enormous casualties, and many who came out at the other end alive would remain scarred both physically as mentally. Without such a grand tale to work with, I can't imagine Ambrose ever having gained the prominence that he had. Let me be frank right at the start: Ambrose's deficiencies on display as both a writer and historian are truly baffling to behold, and become glaringly obvious once one manages to detach these from the admittedly inspiring nature of the subject treated.Their story begins with the Great Depression, the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, which spans 1929 to 1933. When it reaches its lowest point, 15 million Americans are unemployed. The young men who would later join Easy Company grow up hungry, ragged, and penniless. Their education is cut short. America’s decision to come to the defense of Britain and France in 1941 leads to conscription. This U.S. draft is a narrow slice of American manpower that allows deferments for industrial and agricultural workers and excludes fathers, targeting the youth of the nation. Young men from across the nation find themselves in basic training in Georgia. As the series is based on historical events, the fates of the characters reflect those of the persons on which they are based. Many either die or sustain serious wounds which lead to their being sent home. Other soldiers recover after treatment in field hospitals and rejoin their units on the front line. Their experiences, and the moral, mental, and physical hurdles they must overcome, are central to the story's narrative. They were rough-and-ready guys, battered by the Depression, mistrustful and suspicious. They drank too much French wine, looted too many German cameras and watches, and fought too often with other GIs. But in training and combat they learned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discovered that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them.

Downey, Kevin (October 17, 2001). " 'Friends' shows 'Survivor' its stuff". Media Life. Archived from the original on March 8, 2012 . Retrieved July 8, 2015.

Downey, Kevin (September 27, 2001). "In days of tumult, a spirit of unity". Media Life. Archived from the original on July 10, 2015 . Retrieved July 8, 2015. Ok. So I've put this off for quite a while. Reading this book was intense. To put it simply, this book stirs up too many emotions. I have a lump in my throat as I sit writing this. What these men endured, what they sacrificed, and their bravery in the face of all the death that surrounded them, are things no one who has never been to war can even comprehend. Their courage alone leaves me breathless. I came to love most of these men, and to despise others. I hurt when people died, or got bad news, or were punished. I rejoiced for them, and I cried for them. However, I think my most prevalent emotions throughout this experience have been awe, respect, and pride. Here we get the story of Easy (E) company of the 506th PIR of the 101 Air Borne Division told by Mr. Ambrose through remembrances of surviving members. it's a highly interesting book giving the story/history of the outfit along with a "slice" of the "everyday war". Things are related with the "dirt still on". The men, the officers from training through the end of the war. The men who were killed, the replacements, the survivors who went from the unit's inception to the very end. After watching the television miniseries a couple times through and really enjoying it for its humanity, I thought it was time I gave the book a go. There isn't much difference between the two. The timeline and events depicted in the series stay fairly true to the book, showing the birth of the legendary Easy Company as it goes through basic training, enters the war and fights through an almost endless array of seemingly impossible missions until the European theater came to a close.