Customer Reviews
Stick to the TV series................... - By: An avid reader, 03 Oct 2008 
I came to this after watching (and re-watching) the TV series.
As military history is a favourite subject of mine I thought I'd give the book on which the series is based a go, and? Well, I wish I hadn't bothered.
Firstly the book is written by an American, & is written, very much, from the American standpoint - need not have been a problem but as Ambrose would have it, the 'Band of Brothers' won the war single handedly & despite the assistance of the British (characterised, when they are very rarely mentioned, as incompetent, upper class toffs), the French (cowardly, untrustworthy etc). Actually Stephen, the war had been going on quite a while before D-Day (the first action of the 'screaming eagles').
The training camp may have been hard work but I'm sure it was infinitely better than actually doing something, you know, dangerous? fighting perhaps?, maybe Dunkirk?? Oh, but your boys had to run up Curraheein 40 minutes............
Then back to England for a bit of R&R
So where else did they see action? The Battle of the Bulge, horrific yes, but there own incompetence & lack of reconassaince almost certainly contributed to the situation they found themselvesin - no mention of this, however.
Now, the big claim to fame - capturing the Eagles Nest - fine, I'll give them that one (although mention should be made of the fact that they put up roadblocks & stopped troops of other nations getting there), butin reality what did capturing this really involve? the Germans had virtually abandoned the place & the few remaining troops were hardly front line & ill prepared to meet any serious opposition. They turned up, looted the place, got drunk & that's about it...........
We spend most of the bookin the company of Major Winters, & as mentionedin other reviews, he comes accross as rather self regarding, pompous & arrogant (fit'sin well with Ambrose's attitude).
Allin all, not worth bothering with if your interestedin serious, unbiased military history.
Yes, they were a well trained group of fighting men, are they worthy of all the adulation? probably notin my opinion, or if they are, so are a lot of other people/squadrons/units that fought & suffered (a lot morein most cases)in the war
Dull - a wasted opportunity......... - By: Richard Vasquez, 14 Sep 2008 Hugely disappointed after seeing the fantastic HBO series on TV. It whetted my appetite & I was approaching this bookin a postive frame of mind.
Ambrose's work is barely saved by the fascinating subject matter, failing to pull together anything remotely readable. Throughout the book the reader remains on the outside, the author makes no attempt to engage his audience. We are left with a bare shell of a book, with a painfully weak narrative.
There is no sense of connection with the men of Easy Company, except Winters who he clearly hero worships. It lacks any sense of tension & passion & is writtenin a strangely detached style. This is rich, vivid material which a talented writer would have turned into a masterpiece. Ambrose fails to capture the raw human emotion of battle & any sense of humanity. As a result its a cold & hollow book.
I'm thinking of Beevor's "Stalingrad" a far superior & readable book, it will take your breath away. One can only imagine what Beevor would have done with this material.
In comparison Band of Brothers lacks range, depth & compassion. None of the bravery & self sacrifice of the ordinary soldier is captured, made worse by some sloppy research......
Good accounts peppered with problems - By: A. Upton, 12 Aug 2008 
Stephen Ambrose presents an account of an American paratrooper companyin the Second World War. Solely focusing on Easy from beginning to end allows you to really get to know individual members how they lived & as another reviewer said gives you a real insight of stepping out into battle from beginning to end.
My first criticism of the book would be the contribution; it seems those who contributed get put forwardin a hero like manner with others who sadly could not contribute sometimes getting portrayedin a very bad light at times. There are times Ambrose goes over board with praise such as Winters quipped this, Winters commanded that & everybody loved Winters. Don't get me wrong I'm not doubting what he did but there are few timesin the book the author prioritizes showing Winters & coin a positive light before telling a balanced story (as there are many times often when Easy make mistakes or decisions go wrong usually which resultin only a couple of lines explanation) whereas when describing the exploits of the company many more lines are rationed.
Secondly the book is written as if America won the war single handedly there is little mention of the allied troops & when it is it seems to be full of cheap shots towards the English. Ambrose portrays the English as badly trained, cowardsin battle with Easy Company saving there day. Like another reviewer said although you can't question their achievements Easy were still a small cogin a very very big machine.
In general a very enjoyable book which if written with less bias showing more angles could have been a 5 star.
Interesting - By: Tommy Atkins, 13 Aug 2007 
A good read after watching the HBO series, I would recommend "Beyond Band of Brothers" by Maj Dick Winters, Covers some areas not includedin the film or the Book by Ambrose.
Solid but sadly sparse - By: L. Ramsden, 26 Mar 2007 Having quite recently thoroughly enjoyed the HBO series of the same name, Ambrose's book comes as pleasantly familiar territory, acting to fillin gaps & flesh out characters I had encounteredin the series.
The story of Easy Company is an extraordinary one & Ambrose has clearly done them a great servicein delivering this historyin a reasonably accessible format but before I place too much praise upon the late Ambrose, the book is somewhat flawedin places.
When I watched the Band of Brothers mini-series I found myself extremely moved by the intimate bond that these real comradesin arms build as they progress from their training at Curahee, through their battles at Normandy on D-Day, Carentan, Bastogne & others to finally arrive at Hitler's Eagle's Nest. The book however, whilst providing the basis for the series, feels much sparser & is writtenin a much more matter-of-fact style that very rarely evoked an emotional connection to those same soldiers.
I found it disappointing that some significant events were coveredin very little detail & almost glossed over completely, for example the discovery of the concentration camp. Ambrose's style comes across as almost self-congratulatory & is occasionally brazen enough to quarrel with his interviewees over the fairness of their statements which somewhat diminishes his credibility. Also, for someone who has written a good number of books the level of grammatical accuracy was considerably lacking & I often found myself re-reading sections because an obvious slap-dash attempt at spell checking & too little proof reading had left the wrong wordsin place which by professional author standards should be considered a particularly unforgivable error.
Overall, whilst somewhat disappointed that I was given a more diminished insight into the lives of Easy company than expected, I should note that I was often glued for several chapters at a time & read the bookin a short space of time as I felt drawn back to these real accounts of American soldier's experiences of WWII. I would recommend this book to anyone who, like myself, has seen the series & wishes to learn more but would caution complete newcomers that the experience may be less than overwhelming.
