Band of Brothers [Audio Download]

If you are not accustomed to reading books concerning military history and/or are not familiar with this stage of World War II, I'd highly recommend that you watch the BBC/HBO series first. It's very accurate to what is written in the book with good character acting to the main guys involved in Easy Company, 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne.

The book is well written, with Ambrose setting out the events of each day/engagement/battle/incident, and then using quotes and excerpts from other books and memoirs to illustrate how it was for the actual men in those incidents. A lot of the quotes are directly from interviews the author had with the various enlisted men and officers who took part in D-Day and beyond. It is stated towards the end of the book that Ambrose was in constant contact with the veterans of Easy Company and showed them drafts of the book to make comments and corrections on. So this book is pretty much the definitive history of Easy Company's part in World War II, from the birth of the company to through D-Day and then duties of Occupation in Germany etc.

The book loses one star for these down points:
It IS hard not to be in awe of what Easy Company and all the 101st achieved, but in one or two places, objectivity would have been prefered to all out adoration. If you are a Brit and have any soft spot for the achievements of the British contribution to the Allied advance in 1944, be prepared for the author to spurt out the odd punch to British forces. In a lot of places he seems to suggest that the British were blind, ignorant, and badly trained buffoons; and takes one or two unprofessional incidents to act as a general overview of British standards.

The minor sour grapes accepted, this is still a fantastic book, and there will be something on every page that will make you smile, or shock, or bring you close to tears. Every World War II enthusiast and history fan should read this book!

Stephen E. Ambrose has written a very good account of the history of E-Company, which has now been turned into a major television series. I read this book in a couple of days and have to confess that it makes compelling reading. Those who have never experienced combat cannot fully understand what people like the young men that made up E-Company went through, but this account helps us to appreciate the debt we all owe to ones like Major Winters and the rest of the allied forces that defeated Nazi Germany in WWII. In an age where celebrity and hero worship are bandied around too liberally, these men show us that the real hero's are those who quietly do their job against a backdrop of constant danger and death.

One part of the book that demonstrates Ambrose's skill as a historian is the account of the attack upon Foy. This is contained in the chapter entitled: "The Breaking Point." Ambrose states: "Back in '42 the question was, Can a citizen army be trained and prepared well enough to fight Germans in a protracted campaign in Northwest Europe?" E-Company faced this test during this encounter with the Germans and the book provides the answer given by these young men to their test.

Ambrose relates events in a balanced way and is not blinded by the natural trap of accepting everything that he is told by those whose experiences make up the account. After reading this book you will be filled with an awe of the young men that fought and died to help remove the dark threat of Nazi Germany and retain the freedom that we all have enjoyed since that dangerous time. This book does not glorify the war, but simply tells it as it happened.

Having quite recently thoroughly enjoyed the HBO series of the same name, Ambrose's book comes as pleasantly familiar territory, acting to fill in gaps and flesh out characters I had encountered in the series.

The story of Easy Company is an extraordinary one and Ambrose has clearly done them a great service in delivering this history in a reasonably accessible format but before I place too much praise upon the late Ambrose, the book is somewhat flawed in places.

When I watched the Band of Brothers mini-series I found myself extremely moved by the intimate bond that these real comrades in arms build as they progress from their training at Curahee, through their battles at Normandy on D-Day, Carentan, Bastogne and others to finally arrive at Hitler's Eagle's Nest. The book however, whilst providing the basis for the series, feels much sparser and is written in a much more matter-of-fact style that very rarely evoked an emotional connection to those same soldiers.

I found it disappointing that some significant events were covered in very little detail and almost glossed over completely, for example the discovery of the concentration camp. Ambrose's style comes across as almost self-congratulatory and is occasionally brazen enough to quarrel with his interviewees over the fairness of their statements which somewhat diminishes his credibility. Also, for someone who has written a good number of books the level of grammatical accuracy was considerably lacking and I often found myself re-reading sections because an obvious slap-dash attempt at spell checking and too little proof reading had left the wrong words in place which by professional author standards should be considered a particularly unforgivable error.

Overall, whilst somewhat disappointed that I was given a more diminished insight into the lives of Easy company than expected, I should note that I was often glued for several chapters at a time and read the book in a short space of time as I felt drawn back to these real accounts of American soldier's experiences of WWII. I would recommend this book to anyone who, like myself, has seen the series and wishes to learn more but would caution complete newcomers that the experience may be less than overwhelming.