Band of Brothers

Stephen E. Ambrose's classic New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the acclaimed HBO series about Easy Company, the ordinary men who became the World War II's most extraordinary soldiers at the frontlines of the war's most critical moments. Featuring a foreword from Tom Hanks. They came together, citizen soldiers, in the summer of 1942, drawn to Airborne by the $50 monthly bonus and a desire to be better than the other guy. And at its peak—in Holland and the Ardennes—Easy Company was as good a rifle company as any in the world. From the rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the disbanding in 1945, Stephen E. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company. In combat, the reward for a job well done is the next tough assignment, and as they advanced through Europe, the men of Easy kept getting the tough assignments. They parachuted into France early D-Day morning and knocked out a battery of four 105 mm cannon looking down Utah Beach; they parachuted into Holland during the Arnhem campaign; they were the Battered Bastards of the Bastion of Bastogne, brought in to hold the line, although surrounded, in the Battle of the Bulge; and then they spearheaded the counteroffensive. Finally, they captured Hitler's Bavarian outpost, his Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. They were rough-and-ready guys, battered by the Depression, mistrustful and suspicious. They drank too much French wine, looted too many German cameras and watches, and fought too often with other GIs. But in training and combat they learned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discovered that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them. This is the story of the men who fought, of the martinet they hated who trained them well, and of the captain they loved who led them. E Company was a company of men who went hungry, froze, and died for each other, a company that took 150 percent casualties, a company where the Purple Heart was not a medal—it was a badge of office.

Stephen E. Ambrose was a renowned historian and acclaimed author of more than thirty books. Among his New York Times bestsellers are Nothing Like It In the World, Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, D-Day, and Undaunted Courage. Dr. Ambrose was a retired Boyd Professor of History at the University of New Orleans and a contributing editor for the Quarterly Journal of Military History.

CHAPTER ONE "We Wanted Those Wings"; Camp Toccoa, July-December 1942 CHAPTER TWO "Stand Up and Hook Up"; Benning, Mackall, Bragg, Shanks, December 1942-September 1943 CHAPTER THREE "Duties of the Latrine Orderly"; Aldbourne, September 1943-March 1944 CHAPTER FOUR "Look Out Hitler! Here We Come!"; Slapton Sands, Uppottery, April 1-June 5, 1944 CHAPTER FIVE "Follow Me"; Normandy, June 6, 1944 CHAPTER SIX "Move Out!"; Carentan, June 7-July 12 1944 CHAPTER SEVEN Healing Wounds and Scrubbed Missions; Aldbourne, July 13-September 16, 1944 CHAPTER EIGHT "Hell's Highway"; Holland, September 17-October 1, 1944 CHAPTER NINE The Island; Holland, October 2-November 25, 1944 CHAPTER TEN Resting, Recovering, and Refitting; Mourmelon-le-Grand, November 26-December 18, 1944 CHAPTER ELEVEN "They Got Us Surrounded -- the Poor Bastards"; Bastogne, December 19-31, 1944 CHAPTER TWELVE The Breaking Point; Bastogne, January 1-13, 1945 CHAPTER THIRTEEN Attack; Noville, January 14-17, 1945 CHAPTER FOURTEEN The Patrol; Haguenau, January 18-February 23, 1945 CHAPTER FIFTEEN "The Best Feeling in the World"; Mourmelon, February 25-April 2, 1945 CHAPTER SIXTEEN Getting to Know the Enemy; Germany, April 2-30, 1945 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Drinking Hitler's Champagne; Berchtesgaden, May 1-8, 1945 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The Soldier's Dream Life; Austria, May 8-July 31, 1945 CHAPTER NINETEEN Postwar Careers; 1945-1991 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND SOURCES INDEX