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)

High Expectations Met

I've read this book several times and enjoyed the HBO series, so my expectations were quite high with this audiobook. Do not be put off by reviews that are dismissive of the narration. Tim Jerome's sober narration is entirely appropriate for this powerful work of nonfiction.

D-Day, Market Garden, Bastogne - Amazing!

If you could sum up Band of Brothers in three words, what would they be?

My deepest respect.

What other book might you compare Band of Brothers to and why?

We Were Soldiers Once and Young

Have you listened to any of Tim Jerome’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first book i listened to on Audible.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - I used it as a commuter book.

You HAVE to pick the Unabridged version

Well told story of amazing men. Well done narration. Only better book by Ambrose is Pegasus Bridge which I haven't see as an audio book. These are such great men. Read this one first and then there are so many others that have come out since focused on individuals. There is so much great literature on Easy Company. This is the place to start.

a must for history buffs

one of the best history writers of our time.... gripping
I listen to audio books on my hour commute each way to work. many times I have sat in my driveway unable to turn off the car.

Band of Brothers

I love Ambrose’s work and this story is great! The problem I have is with the narrator. Tim Jerome pronounces some of the men’s names wrong as well as locations incorrectly. For those that don’t know the difference it isn’t a problem, for me though the mispronunciations are frustrating to hear.

A Company of Hero’s

Band of Brothers is the story of one of the greatest military companies ever to have been formed. It is the story of how ordinary citizen soldiers bonded together to become who we know them as today. These men helped free the world from the Nazi Regime the had taken over much of Europe at the time. However what is more remarkable about this story is that these men faded back into society without asking or demanding a single thing for what they had done.

Greatest Generation

Any additional comments?

Like most, I've seen the HBO series "Band of Brothers". I also wanted to go deeper into the story so I purchased the e-book as well as the audible version. I recently finished the book and have a new appreciation for the Greatest Generation. They truly deserve that name by the sacrifices they made to help make this country what it is today. The audio version of this book is excellent and the narrator does a terrific job. I am looking forward to reading more by this author and others on the topic!

Should Be Required Reading

This Book should be required reading/listening for all High School American History Classes and also for all entering Military Service.

God Bless all that have served this Land of the Free!

Excellent unabridged book, average narration

I appreciated this audiobook, even after seeing the HBO miniseries and listening to the abridged version of the audiobook. This unabridged version has quite a bit of additional detail that I had not heard (or seen) previously, and I enjoyed hearing the story over again. Tim Jerome's narration is competent though, to my ear, it was not as good as Cotter Smith's reading of the abridged version or as good as George Wilson's reading of Citizen Solders.

The Facts Behind the Series

Would you consider the audio edition of Band of Brothers to be better than the print version?

I Didn't read the print version

What did you like best about this story?

The parts left out of the series and the facts that were part of the series

What about Tim Jerome’s performance did you like?

Good clear speaking voice that kept me wanting more

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Band of Brothers of course

Any additional comments?

Wonderful book about factual events

Tim Jerome has done no research.

I've read this book numerous times and obviously watched the show.
It's obvious Mr Jerome has not done the same.
This might be passable for a story that does not have this much acclaim, but here it's quite frustrating.

Learn how to say the men's names, it's honestly disrespectful not to.

Some obvious mispronunciations of the soldiers names come to mind- Bill Guarnere of Philly is not pronounced for Gar Nay Er
Its Gar Near.
Joe Toye, is not Joe Toy Eh. It's Joe Toy.

The dialogue was also over-dramatized to the point of it being annoying.

It's a work of non-fiction, not Harry Potter.

It would have taken Mr Jerome a day to conduct this research prior to recording this for a paycheck.
It's a tad egregious that he didn't.

The story is told with no reverence from a disinterested melodramatic narrator.

Quite disappointing.

Agree re narration

Loved the HBO series and the book but this audiobook is ruined by the narrator who cannot master any accent beyond his own American drawl. What a pity. I don't care about the anti English bias but for goodness sake get someone to read it that pronounce place names correctly. Am exchanging this.

As good as it gets

Would you consider the audio edition of Band of Brothers to be better than the print version?

No

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The building of a cohesive unit and the value placed on training and preperation prior to battle.

Sick to death of the American ‘limey bashing) i am sure if 1 - 6 Airborne had the amount of time to train as E Coy had they I think we would be writing about them (and perhaps should be). You need only to look at the recruits that came after to prove this and this is the same for all organisations under pressure.

Have you listened to any of Tim Jerome’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Winters sounds to me like an outstanding indivicual - I have had the pleasure of meeting a few and would follow them to the end of the world.

Any additional comments?

Great audio book (less the comments on the British) and finished in record time - really enjoyed it.

Poor as a history but an enjoyable story

To read this book you would think that the entire war was won solely by Easy company. The author was clearly attached to the men he interviewed which clouded his objectivity. However as a good war time read the book hits all the marks. Very enjoyable.

One of the greatest stories about great heroes

If you've seen the series on HBO then you need to read/listen to this. The differences between the accounts in the book and how it played out on the screen are quite apparent but it doesn't ruin anything.

The only thing that bothered me was the mispronounced names, especially good old Wild Bill Guarnere. The reader pronounces it Gwan-wear-ree rather than Gaa-nee-ur. Joe Toye was Toy-ah rather than simply Toy. See how many more you can spot!

Men at their best in the worst of conditions

Would you consider the audio edition of Band of Brothers to be better than the print version?

yes Tim Jerome gave the account life.

What did you like best about this story?

All of it

Which character – as performed by Tim Jerome – was your favourite?

All of them except the British accents, I am British and do not know anyone who speaks
with Tims idea of a British accent.

Any additional comments?

It is a great account of men at war, but one is left with the feeling that the American
soldier had no equal.

A poignant story of heroism

I came to the original story of Easy Company after watching the HBO TV miniseries of the same name. This audiobook has been an absolute favourite of mine and I have listened to it at least once a year ever since first downloading it. I find it particularly poignant to listen to this audiobook around Christmas mainly because I like to relate to their time in Bastogne during Christmas 1944 in some small way.



The story is very US-centric as it should be given the company it it follows, but underneath it all is the idea of voluntary sacrifice for a larger cause. There's also the dichotomy of belonging to the forces where the most hated person to command them was also their biggest asset in terms of bringing them together as a unit. Then there is the dichotomy of war where US E Company soldiers found that it was the Germans that they most related to in terms of their civil values.



It's a gripping story of morals, courage, heroism and sacrificie that sounds cliched until you listen to their story.

They were not alone!

Despite the incredible courage and endurance of the Airborne troops, it may have been gracious for the author to at least give credit to the other troops without whom the Airborne would not have been able to sustain their progress. The narrator should have at least taken the time to learn the correct pronunciation of place names (particularly Dutch towns) and his accent used for 'English' soldiers was ludicrous! Making each one sound as if they were a product of Eton! Infuriatingly, the author refers to 'the English' soldiers/troops rather than 'British'! A common mistake made by Americans!
Overall the story was interesting despite a rather condescending attitude to all non-Airborne combatants.

Excellent and in depth a must have

If you enjoyed watching the tv mini series you'll love this. The book is very well narrated to the point where you want more. It felt as though you were there but through the eyes of an observer. Compelling listening. Well written by Stephen Ambrose.



I enjoyed it so much i wanted more so i listened to 'Beyond Band of Brothers' by Dick Winters his personal memoires of the war. Highly recommended.

Fascinating story!

Great read! Moves along really quickly and gets across the comaraderie that existed between the men of Easy company. Highly recommend this story - you can completely understand why it was turned into a TV series.