5/5 Band of Brothers Review
  by Cha-Chi
Stephen E. Ambrose wrote Band of Brothers to show what it was like going through the European Campaign during World War II as an American Soldier. He takes you through E (Easy) company's journey around Europe making you feel their highest highs and lowest lows with a want for all the excitement to continue, but thankfully for E company it didn't.

Ambrose's fist hand account, from hours of interview with veterans of E company and visiting the actual battle sites, shows the heartbreaking part of war. When the men had to seek shelter in their foxholes while they saw their friends be hit by German artillery, how some soldiers couldn't take the constant pressure from the risk they are taking, and how a bad leader in the company could ruin the entire company. All the while, you feel how strong of a bond was created between these men, so strong that they would do anything for another to get out of the war. On the flip side, E company does succeed in some of its ventures and the happiness from them just pours out of the pages. Every reader gets to experience the war through the shoes of someone who was there and how the survivors continued to live after the war through Ambrose's creative style and clever weaving of story and interview.

By the last part of the book, I think that Stephen E. Ambrose has accomplished what the men of E company wanted to express: They had a job and they did it, but they all just wanted the war to end along with the bloodshed.

5/5 A Classic World War II Account - And a "Hero Generation"
  by Citizen John (Washington, DC)
If you want a book about the "Hero Generation" that tells the story of their sacrifices, selflessness and courage, this is it. Band of Brothers tells the story of a company of the 101st Airborne from initial training through the end of the war. The young men were truly patriotic and became true athletes in training. They were elite soldiers and their training was brutal.

Once in battle, the interviews with the men show how human they are/were and yet how determined. Their bravery and the amount of action they were involved in were just phenomenal. The story of how they took out a German artillery battery at night sticks with me. One guy got shot and was dying, yet apologized for having been shot as if he didn't perform well enough. That was how they were.

I actually felt let down at the war's conclusion. To think that such men, having survived and shared such suffering and "glory" (that only they knew about except for Ambrose documenting it near the end of the survivors' lives) would be frozen in time as they were made me feel despair. Upon arrival at home in the U.S., they would be separated and have to go about the relatively mundane business of life. It's not as if they wouldn't want to sleep in clean sheets, eat well and not get shot at. But there's a void, an unexplainable let down when such soldiers return home.


4/5 Miniseries vs. Book
  by Kenneth R. Mitschke (Schertz, TX USA)
This may be the first time I enjoyed the movie (the HBO miniseries) more than the book. "Band of Brothers" is a very straightforward record drawn from personal accounts from the paratroopers of E Company and other sources. Stephen Ambrose lacks the style and wit of Edmund Morris, the last author I read. However, many will prefer the simplicity of Ambrose's "just the facts" approach. I especially appreciated the personal detail he extracted in face to face interviews. He shares these very candidly. No punches pulled here. The reader is treated to the feeling that he is more than acquainted with the soldiers of E Company. The book includes interesting background and personal detail not included in the miniseries. A watching audience would view them as tedious. However, the book lacks the visceral impact of the visuals in the miniseries. My advice? Watch the miniseries AND read the book. They complement each other very well. Rating: 4 of 5

5/5 My teenage son loves it.
  by Doug Assis (London ON Canada)
I bought "band of Brothers" to my WWII fanatic son and he read it at his summer camp. Now he has watched the TV series (several times over) an there's not a single day since that I can remember that we do not have a quote, description or consideration about the book. I'll eventually read it, but right now I'm enjoying his enthusiasm for it.

5/5 WW II MASTERPIECE
  by EGBOK (Indianapolis)
This is one of the very best books to come out of WW II. Condition was like new and arrived as promised.