Band of Brothers remains a tremendous entry point into WWII history
Band of Brothers, the Emmy-winning miniseries created by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, turns 22 this year. For the first time ever, the historical drama — which stars Damian Lewis (Homeland), Ron Livingston (Office Space), and a litany of other recognizable faces on the brink of stardom, from Tom Hardy to James McAvoy — will be available on a subscription streaming service other than HBO’s Max. It arrives on Netflix starting Sept. 15, and if you’ve never seen the seminal program, there’s no better time than now.
Longtime fans also have reason to be excited, as the 10-episode series rewards repeated viewing, especially in the fancy 4K format it’s expected to be shown in. But your experience will be greatly improved with a deeper dive into the history that surrounds the program itself. Here are a few items to consider alongside the highly anticipated re-release, including recommendations for what to watch right after.
Band of Brothers is a dramatization based on the true story of the men of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Regiment, part of the United States’ famed 101st Airborne Division. The script is inspired by the incredible firsthand accounts gathered by historian Stephen E. Ambrose, collected in his bestselling book, Band of Brothers: From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. However, unlike many historical texts based on WWII, Ambrose’s work is eminently readable and includes all of the background information needed to contextualize Easy Company’s mission for a modern audience — plus anecdotes and vignettes that just didn’t make the cut in the final edit.
Inside its pages, Ambrose ably communicates not only what was at stake on both the domestic and the international stages as the U.S. entered
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