Editorial
Reviews
Publisher's
Weekly
Ambrose
(Pegasus Bridge) narrates in vivid detail
the adventures, misadventures, triumphs
and tragedies of a single U.S. Army infantry
company over its span of organizational
life. Formed in July 1944 and deactivated
in November 1945, E Company was one of
the most successful light infantry units
in the European theater.
Its
troops saw their first action on D-Day
behind the Normandy beachhead, took part
in Operation Market Garden in Holland,
held the perimeter around Bastogne during
the Battle of the Bulge, and were the
first to reach Hitler's Bavarian outpost
at Berchtesgaden. The book is enlivened
with pertinent comments by veterans of
"Easy Company,'' who recall not only
the combat action but their relations
with their officers (one company commander
was a petty tyrant of the worst type,
but his oppressive ways had much to do
with the unit's impressive esprit de corps
) and their impressions of the countries
through which they campaigned (hated the
French, loved the Germans). This is a
terrific read for WW II actions buffs.
Library
Journal
Ambrose (history, Univ. of New Orleans),
who has written numerous military histories,
intersperses his text with reminiscences,
diary entries, and letters from the men
who served in a single elite airborne
company from its formation until after
the war's end. The focus on one company,
combined with the author's solid research
and excellent prose, produces a book that
vividly evokes both the excitement of
battle and the hours of boredom away from
combat. Like Harold P. Leinbaugh and John
D. Campbell's The Men of Company K: The
Autobiography of a World War II Rifle
Company ( LJ 12/85), this book accurately
describes the lives of the men who bore
the brunt of war. If a library could make
only one purchase covering the American
soldier in combat during World War II
in Europe, this would be the book. Highly
recommended for all libraries. Previewed
in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/92.--Dennis L.
Noble, Washington State Lib., Clallam
Bay Corrections Ctr. |
