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butlermarla78's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
brownlikethecolor's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
lesley_cosh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
thecurseofchris's review against another edition
4.0
Re-read for the first time since I was a kid, and two things:
1) my rating went down from a 5 to about a 3.5
2) honestly, you're better off watching the HBO series
The actual story of the men of Easy Company is outstanding and inspiring. That alone should make this essential reading for those just getting into WWII History, or someone who is just very casual about the subject. Ambrose's writing is also simple and clear enough to make it easy to follow along without ever feeling "too academic."
That said, it's clear that Ambrose relied mostly on the first hand accounts of the men and didn't go much farther beyond that, which means that there are parts of this book that have since been proven false (which means the HBO show does as well, such as the fate of Albert Blithe). This rubs me the wrong way, especially since it's such a popular book and (to my knowledge) nothing has been updated since publication.
The importance of Band of Brothers (the book) will never be tarnished, and the legacy of the soldiers will always live on. But the show will give you more. Then you can go and read the many separate accounts of the individual men.
1) my rating went down from a 5 to about a 3.5
2) honestly, you're better off watching the HBO series
The actual story of the men of Easy Company is outstanding and inspiring. That alone should make this essential reading for those just getting into WWII History, or someone who is just very casual about the subject. Ambrose's writing is also simple and clear enough to make it easy to follow along without ever feeling "too academic."
That said, it's clear that Ambrose relied mostly on the first hand accounts of the men and didn't go much farther beyond that, which means that there are parts of this book that have since been proven false (which means the HBO show does as well, such as the fate of Albert Blithe). This rubs me the wrong way, especially since it's such a popular book and (to my knowledge) nothing has been updated since publication.
The importance of Band of Brothers (the book) will never be tarnished, and the legacy of the soldiers will always live on. But the show will give you more. Then you can go and read the many separate accounts of the individual men.
mzier's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Book on CD read by Collin Smith
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.
Ambrose chose one unit and followed the men of that unit through their years of training, and combat during World War II. He profiles the officers and enlisted men alike, showing their reactions to training, to the regimented lifestyle the military requires, to combat, and to each other. In this way, the reader experiences the boredom of routine drill, the excitement and anxiety of waiting to go on the next mission, the adrenaline rush and terror of combat, the anger and compassion on seeing your comrades wounded or killed.
Ambrose conducted hours of interviews with the survivors, and was given access to letters, journals and military documents. The personal stories lend great authenticity to the narrative. The text edition includes photos of the soldiers, and maps of Europe, as well as of specific battle sites.
Collin Smith does a fine job narrating the audio book. He has great pacing and really brought the work to life. However … after listening to the first disc I realized the copy I got from the library was an abridged audio, so I read the text for the remainder of the book.
One final footnote: In the last year of his life, Ambrose was accused of plagiarizing several passages in his book The Wild Blue. He responded that all his works are footnoted, and his sources documented. He said that his main concern was with telling the story, and he regretted that he didn’t always use quotation marks. Forbes magazine did additional research and found suspect passages in at least six of Ambrose’s books. However, THIS book, was NOT cited.
The subtitle is all the synopsis anyone needs: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest.
Ambrose chose one unit and followed the men of that unit through their years of training, and combat during World War II. He profiles the officers and enlisted men alike, showing their reactions to training, to the regimented lifestyle the military requires, to combat, and to each other. In this way, the reader experiences the boredom of routine drill, the excitement and anxiety of waiting to go on the next mission, the adrenaline rush and terror of combat, the anger and compassion on seeing your comrades wounded or killed.
Ambrose conducted hours of interviews with the survivors, and was given access to letters, journals and military documents. The personal stories lend great authenticity to the narrative. The text edition includes photos of the soldiers, and maps of Europe, as well as of specific battle sites.
Collin Smith does a fine job narrating the audio book. He has great pacing and really brought the work to life. However … after listening to the first disc I realized the copy I got from the library was an abridged audio, so I read the text for the remainder of the book.
One final footnote: In the last year of his life, Ambrose was accused of plagiarizing several passages in his book The Wild Blue. He responded that all his works are footnoted, and his sources documented. He said that his main concern was with telling the story, and he regretted that he didn’t always use quotation marks. Forbes magazine did additional research and found suspect passages in at least six of Ambrose’s books. However, THIS book, was NOT cited.