Band of Brothers (book)

Band of Brothers, subtitled, E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, by Stephen E. Ambrose is an examination of a parachute infantry company in the 101st Airborne Division in the European Theater during World War II. While the book treats the flow of battle, it concentrates on the lives of the soldiers in and associated with the company. The book was later adapted into a 2001 miniseries for HBO by Tom Hanks, Erik Jendreson, and Steven Spielberg, also titled Band of Brothers.

Band of Brothers
First edition
AuthorStephen E. Ambrose
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectMilitary history
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherTouchstone (Simon & Schuster)
Publication date
1992
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), ebook
Pages336
ISBN978-0743224543

Background

The book rests upon interviews Ambrose conducted with former members of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. The veterans were having a reunion at a hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana; the interviews were conducted as part of a project to collect oral histories of D-Day for the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans.[1]:317 Ambrose was intrigued with the bonds that had developed among the members of Easy Company. He circulated his drafts among the surviving members of the company, asked for input, and incorporated their ideas into later drafts. Ambrose wrote of the finished product, "We have come as close to the true story of Easy Company as possible."[2]

Notable people

Contents

The book consists of a foreword, epigraph, and a maps section, followed by 19 chapters. There is an afterword and a brief author's bio after the chapters.

After the table of contents, the book's dedication reads:[1]:iii

To all those members of the Parachute Infantry
United States Army, 1941-1945
who wear the Purple Heart not as a decoration
but as a badge of office.

The epigraph is a quotation from Shakespeare's Henry V, from which the title of the book is derived:[1]:iv

From this day to the ending of the World,
...we in it shall be remembered ...we few, we happy few,
...we band of brothers.

The chapters are:

  • One – "We Wanted Those Wings"; Camp Toccoa, July–December 1942
  • Two – "Stand Up and Hook Up"; Benning, Mackall, Bragg, Shanks, December 1942-September 1943
  • Three – "Duties of the Latrine Orderly"; Aldbourne, September 1943-March 1944
  • Four – "Look Out Hitler! Here We Come!"; Slapton Sands, Upottery, April 1 – June 5, 1944
  • Five – "Follow Me"; Normandy, June 6, 1944
  • Six – "Move Out!"; Carentan, June 7 – July 12, 1944
  • Seven – Healing Wounds and Scrubbed Missions; Aldbourne, July 13 – September 16, 1944
  • Eight – "Hell's Highway"; Holland, September 17 – October 1, 1944
  • Nine – The Island; Holland, October 2 – November 25, 1944
  • Ten – Resting, Recovering, and Refitting; Mourmelon-le-Grand, November 26 – December 18, 1944
  • Eleven – "They Got Us Surrounded—The Poor Bastards"; Bastogne, December 19–31, 1944
  • Twelve – The Breaking Point; Bastogne, January 1–13, 1945
  • Thirteen – Attack; Noville, January 14–17, 1945
  • Fourteen – The Patrol; Haguenau, January 18 – February 23, 1945
  • Fifteen – "The Best Feeling in the World"; Mourmelon, February 25 – April 2, 1945
  • Sixteen – Getting to Know the Enemy; Germany, April 2–30, 1945
  • Seventeen – Drinking Hitler's Champagne; Berchtesgaden, May 1–8, 1945
  • Eighteen – "The Soldier's Dream Life"; Austria, May 9 – July 31, 1945
  • Nineteen – "Postwar Careers"; 1945-1991
gollark: You could try it with your phone and tinfoil.
gollark: Not really sure, probably frequency-dependent.
gollark: ... those are for WiFi.
gollark: Cellular jammers are very illegal and tricky.
gollark: Alternatively, you could probably cover it in tin foil first, or something like that.

References
  1. Ambrose, Stephen E. (1992). Band of Brothers, E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest (Trade paperback ed.). Touchstone, Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743224543.
  2. Harry G. Summers Jr. (September 6, 1992). "The Men of Company E". The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
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