‘The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead…’
This is now my third Band of Brothers related review having previously tackled the epic miniseries and HBO’s companion podcast. I promise this is the last one. I have become rather obsessed…
Band of Brothers is an examination of a parachute infantry company in the 101st Airborne Division in the European Theater during World War II. While Ambrose tackles the ebbs and flows of battle, he’s more interested in the lives of the men and his ability to bring the soldiers to life and render them in flesh and blood rather than just names on a page is what makes this book so effective. Charting the formation of Easy Company at Camp Toccoa under the watchful eye of Captain Sobel (memorably played by David Schwimmer in the miniseries) through to the liberation of Berlin three years later, Band of Brothers tells the story of America’s involvement in WWII through the eyes of those that lived it – and those that didn’t make it through.
As one would imagine, this is a touching and poignant book. The bond that the men of Easy Company developed is incredible and Ambrose does a great job in capturing the mutual respect between them. Under normal circumstances, one might bristle at the description of the men as superheroes but the more one reads about their exploits, the more it is clear that this is the description that these men deserve.
Weirdly, this is one of the very few occasions in which I would recommend watching the adaptation first before reading the book. The reasoning being that there are just so many characters mentioned here so being able to associate them with the actor that played them helps to ground the story in reality further. That being said, there is plenty of stuff here that didn’t make it into the miniseries, and this is the stuff that long time fans will most enjoy.
Reading Band of Brothers for the first time marks the end of my journey with Easy Company and what a journey it has been. I can’t wait to catch up with them again in a few years time when I inevitably return to the miniseries again.