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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.

Author

Stephen E. Ambrose

English

Military history

Historical anecdote novel

Touchstone (Simon & Schuster)

1992

United States

Print (hardcover and paperback), ebook, audiobook

336

978-0743224543

Background[edit]

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]

One – "We Wanted Those Wings"; , July–December 1942

Camp Toccoa

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

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


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


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


The chapters are: