Introduced by Cole C. Kingseed
Foreword by Tom Hanks
With a new introduction by Cole C. Kingseed – Dick Winters’ biographer – Tom Hanks’ original foreword, and a brand-new picture selection, this Folio edition of Stephen E. Ambrose’s best-selling Band of Brothers is a triumph.
Stephen Ambrose was a great chronicler of history, a teller of authoritative, intuitive and heartrending stories
- Tom Hanks, from his introduction
Formed in the summer of 1942, the elite parachute regiment E ‘Easy’ Company was involved in some of the most critical missions of World War II, playing major roles at D-Day and Operation Market Garden, culminating in the capture of Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’. Their near-mythical heroics under the leadership of Major Dick Winters fascinated Stephen E. Ambrose, but it was the incredible camaraderie that the veterans still shared 50 years after the end of the war that inspired him to write Band of Brothers.
Working with Cole C. Kingseed, former U.S. military officer and Winters’ biographer and close friend, we have created a unique collector’s edition of this acclaimed history. Kingseed has written a compelling new introduction – which joins Tom Hanks’ original foreword – that explores the enduring fascination with the Band of Brothers. The picture selection comprises 32 pages of photographs, some rarely seen, sourced from specialist archives, including the Dick Winters Collection at the Gettysburg Museum and the Army Signal Corps Collection at the US National Archive. Band of Brothers achieved worldwide acclaim following the 2001 HBO series, but it is within the pages of Ambrose’s book that the authentic voices of Easy Company can be heard.
Bound in printed and blocked textured paper
Set in Utopia with Franklin Gothic as display
368 pages
32 pages of black and white photographs (67 images in total)
Double-page spread map redrawn by Kevin Freeborn
Blocked slipcase
Printed in UK
10˝ x 6 ¾˝
‘History boldly told and elegantly written. Gripping.’
- New York Times
A brilliant and charismatic commanding officer, Richard ‘Dick’ Winters is arguably one of the most recognisable American war heroes of World War II. Drawn together from all walks of life, many having suffered the ravages of the Depression, the men under his command had one commonality: the desire to serve their country. This seemingly ordinary group of citizen soldiers went on perform extraordinary feats of bravery in countless missions: the D-Day landings, Battle of the Bulge, Operation Market Garden and finally, Hitler’s ‘Eagle’s Nest’ in Berchtesgaden.
Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with Easy Company veterans, Ambrose’s compelling account of the heroics and horror of war continues to enthral. In his new introduction, Kingseed traces his personal and professional relationship with Winters, offering an insight into the leadership skills that have become part of the legacy of both the man and the unit he commanded: ‘Mirroring selfless leadership, Band of Brothers demonstrates that is possible to achieve extraordinary things under great duress’. The incredible feats of endurance, bravery and camaraderie make this a perennial adventure story that transcends generations.
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