Band of Brothers

E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

By: Stephen E. Ambrose

Narrated by: Tim Jerome

Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company, which kept getting the tough assignments. Easy Company was responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

Band of Brothers is the account of the men of this remarkable unit who fought, went hungry, froze, and died, a company that took 150 percent casualities and considered the Purple Heart a badge of office. Drawing on hours of interviews with survivors as well as the soldiers' journals and letters, Stephen Ambrose tell the stories - often in the men's own words - of these American hereoes.

©1998 Stephen E. Ambrose (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"A first-class explanation of what crack infantry troops are like....Addicts of military history will relish its finely detailed account.....Stephen Ambrose's thorough research and clear organization have produced a highly readable account of the heroic service of this "band of brothers" he so unstintedly admires." ( San Francisco Chronicle)

"As a member of just such a unit...I am impressed by how well Mr. Ambrose has captured the true essence of a combat rifle company." (The New York Times Book Review)

"A valuable and fascinating record....In these pages, the reader can vicariously walk with the men of E Company, suffer and laugh with them." (The Times-Picayune)

One of my favorite books I’ve ever read

The best history books I’ve ever read. The mini series they made from it is astoundingly accurate to the book which is full of first hand accounts from the men that this book is about.

Best ever

No one can listen to this story and not be effected in a positive way.

Moving

A story of the greatest generation that brings, ever so vividly, the reader a little closer to understanding what made them so special.

Great Book

What a great tribute to men who sacrificed so much and gained something most people can never understand, the willingness to sacrifice their lives for the greater good.

Hero

The greatest generation ever. Awesome Book! Really enjoyed the end, where we hear what they did after the war.

Required reading

A marvelous book about a marvelous group of men in an extraordinary circumstance. There is a reason this unit and account of history sticks out so much in military history, to the point that we all remember the characters portrayed in the series and their names in this book all these decades later.

Classic WW2 Book, Narration, eh

Ambrose is of course one of the great historians of modern times, and there's no much more that needs to be said about Band of Brothers.

However, this narration is just really, not good (oh by the way, Audibles rating system is a joke. "Not for me" is the worst you can make it. I guess everybody gets a ribbon). It's not only "not for me", it's bad. Narrator mispronounces names and locations. At first I wasn't even sure what he was saying at times. Almost a mix of English and French pronunciations, along with completely incorrect ones. It got to be really annoying.

That said, I wouldn't let it stop you from learning this incredible story written by Ambrose, but you might be better off actually reading the book.

Wonderful

I love the series and this book is just amazing. It brings the show full circle.

Glad this got written

I’m glad this was completed before Major Winters made his last big jump. There’s no negative or constructive statements needed to this great work.

Watch the series and read the book.

After watching the HBO Series many times, I enjoyed learning more about these men. The narrators mispronunciation of names and places was irritating.
I think the book would be hard to follow without seeing the series.