Band of Brothers
Band of Brothers was a ten part BBC/HBO television miniseries co-produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks detailing the exploits of Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, US 101st Airborne Division, during the latter days of World War II. It is based on a book of the same name by Stephen Ambrose.
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
As an outline synopsis, the episodes in the series are as follows:
- "Currahee" - Easy Company of the 101st Airborne undergoes training, and introduces the major characters, particularly Lt. Dick Winters and the martinet commanding officer, Capt. Herbert Sobel.
- "Day of Days" - This episode documents the build up to D-Day and the subsequent fighting in the bocage during the Battle of Normandy.
- "Carentan" - Shows Easy Company in street-to-street fighting with German troops in the French town of Carentan.
- "Replacements" - Easy Company are air-dropped into Holland as a supporting part of Operation Market Garden.
- "Crossroads" - Portrays the day-to-day mundanities of trench warfare.
- "Bastogne" - This episode depicts the fighting around Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
- "The Breaking Point" - Illustrates the stress felt by the men during the fighting in and around the town of Foy.
- "The Last Patrol" - Easy Company pushes on to the town of Haugenau.
- "Why We Fight" - Easy Company crosses into Germany and encounters a concentration camp. This episode won a Emmy.
- "Points" - Easy Company captures Hitler's Eagle's Nest and contemplates a possible redeployment in the Pacific Theater.
"We Stand Alone Together" is companion documentary to Band of Brothers about the members of Easy Company who describe their wartime experiences in detail .
The title
The title, Band of Brothers, comes from a speech delivered by Henry V of England before the Battle of Agincourt in William Shakespeare's Henry V (play); Act IV, Scene 3:
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
()