The next book in our continuing series of our World War II history study is Band of Brothers. The author, Stephen E. Ambrose, is the same guy who wrote our first book Pegasus Bridge. I'm not kidding you, I will probably read everything he has written. He's that good.Although we haven't finished reading Omaha Beach, we are taking a small detour for this one. A co-worker recommended the HBO mini series that was made from this book. So as I started watching the mini-series I became completely enthrawled with the story.
The story follows the 101st airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. The men of Easy Company were all volunteers for the "Screaming Eagles" parachute regiment. We open up with the men in training at Camp Toccoa. They're soon shipped off to England to prepare for their role in the D-Day invasion. The rest of the story follows their involvement in numerous other battles, seemingly many of the major assignments and tough missions.
But the book and mini-series are more than just a historical record of what E Company accomplished. It is a first person view from the front lines, a broader perspective from the eyes of the officers. It is a tale of the drama and emotion of watching your best friends get blown up right in front of you. It details the hardship and misery of defending a line out of a foxhole in freezing temperatures with little to eat, no winter clothing, and fear of mortar shells. Ambrose does a wonderful job depicting the daily trials of the soldiers using first person accounts and incredible narrative.
I'm only about half way through the book and I've seen 8 of the 10 episodes from the mini-series. But I donated blood yesterday and almost passed out (another story of it's own) for the first time in my life because of the impact this story has had on me. I'm not kidding, I have thanked the Lord a little extra every time I have a warm meal and can wake up in a warm bed because of what I have seen and learned through this.
I'm not trying to go all ethical and serious on y'all, but the book and mini-seris are that good. I am always impressed with the ability of historians to piece together everything (even 60+ years later) to recreate the events. Ambrose has a great writing style that is both easy to read and intriguing at the same time. This is a great, great story and Ambrose and HBO have done an incredible job telling it.
(Disclaimer: Although the HBO mini-series is listed as "unrated" it has a lot of violence, obviously, and typical military speak. Be warned.)
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Other Related Links:
Screaming Eagle Vetrans Website - http://www.screamingeagle.org/
Lock 'n Load: Band of Heroes Wargame - http://www.locknloadgame.com/
2 comments:
Thats cool that you decided to watch it. I bought it a couple years ago because I absolutely loved it (the mini-series). I've always been interested in WWII stuff though.
Now that I've finished reading the book and watching the miniseries, I want to make a brief comment about it all.
Wow.
Pretty impressive. And having read and watched Band of Brothers kinda simultaneously, I have to say what a remarkable job they did in the consistency and accuracy of the miniseries keeping close to the book. Both the book and the miniseries tend to get a little slow after Bastogne, but overall it was a nice experience. Very educational and entertaining at the same time.
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