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Summary: Another WWII Airborne Classic from Mark Bando
Review: Eminent 101st Airborne Division historian/author Mark Bando has done it again with his fourth book "101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy," his third on the legendary 101st Airborne Division in World War II, and his second covering the Screaming Eagles' parachute and glider assault into Normandy as they spearheaded D-Day. Bando has packed 10 exciting chapters full of new and previously unpublished material (painstakingly gathered over 30 years of research and interviews with hundreds of 101st veterans) into this glossy, all-new, 156-page hardcover volume. Along with dozens of never-before seen black and white photos of Screaming Eagles in the invasion, the book also contains rarities that must be considered a historical "Holy Grail" for WWII Airborne enthusiasts, and alone are worth the price of the book: more than a dozen beautiful color Kodachromes of 101st paratroopers in Normandy. There is a feast of photos for those knowledgeable of the U.S. Airborne at Normandy, and for those who wish to learn more. Readers familiar with Donald Burgett's classic book "Currahee!" will recognize photos of many of the places Burgett fought and many of the sights Burgett saw in Normandy. The tank knocked out at "Dead Man's Corner" above Carentan? It's there. The German supply wagons Burgett took a pistol and thousands in French francs from? They're there. A wartime color picture of the Carentan Causeway? It's there, as are many others. "101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy" is both a great companion work to Bando's previously published "The 101st Airborne at Normandy" and a unique addition to WWII Airborne history. Like the epic feats of the 101st Airborne itself, it stands tall among the glut of WWII books on store shelves, and is a must-have for anyone interested in U.S. Airborne or WWII history.
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Summary: Geronimo!!!!!!!!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. If not for anything else, buy it for the photos! The author used personal photos taken clandestinely by various 101st AB veterans during the campaign, many in color. I also liked the mix of contemporaneous as well as current day photos to put the events in their proper perspective. I recommend this book to all Screamin' Eagle followers, as well as others such as re-enactors and WWII history buffs.
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Summary: Geronimo!!!!!!!!
Review: I really enjoyed this book. If not for anything else, buy it for the photos! The author used personal photos taken clandestinely by various 101st AB veterans during the campaign, many in color. I also liked the mix of contemporaneous as well as current day photos to put the events in their proper perspective. I recommend this book to all Screamin' Eagle followers, as well as others such as re-enactors and WWII history buffs.
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Summary: 101st Airborne - Simply the Best!
Review: I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the 101st Airborne during the invasion of Normandy. Based on the photographs alone (some are even in color) this book is well worth the price. The detailed writing of the author along with the insightful veteran accounts of Normandy make this a great read as well. I am sure once the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" premiers this fall there will be a rekindled interest in the exploits of the 101st and this book is a great place to see what it was like as a 101st paratrooper on D-Day.
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Summary: Another Gem
Review: Mark Bando has done it again! He has given us another book just full of the kind of in depth detail that puts military history buffs right on the battlefield (but without the need for a medic standing by). The thing that I appreciate most about Mr. Bando's books are the wonderful photographs which accompany the text. I'm so sick of seeing the same pictures appearing in book after book, often having nothing to do with the events being discussed. I'm already looking forward to his next work. I recommend his "Breakout at Normandy" for the same reasons.
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Summary: Another fantastic work on the 101st from Mark Bando
Review: Mark Bando has produced another exceptionally high quality reference work on the 101st Airborne during the Second World War. This is his third work on the 101st and his second on this division during the Normandy campaign. Mark has a excellent style which pleases both those with academic interests and those which are interested in social history. Mr. Bando has had the unique privilege to personally interview over 900 survivors of the 101st which has given him and his works unparalleled depth and quality. Thorough research and careful editing are hallmarks of this author which are unfortunately missing in many other authors on the same topic. Readers interested in WWII airborne history in specific and World War II in general will be pleased with this work.Kurt Barickman Masters of Science German History 1871-1945
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Summary: Retired Detroit Cop Writes WWII Tour de Force
Review: Mark Bando, the author of this exposition of the bigger-than-life adventures of the fabled 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" at Normandy, is an old acquaintance and comrade from the Detroit Police Department. We spent time together years ago as writers for our police patrolmen's union newspaper, the Tuebor. We have happily renewed our acquaintance of late, and while I remember Mark as an astute and accomplished writer, my less-than-passionate interest in military affairs had, until recently, kept me from reading this fine book. Now that I have finally done so, I deeply regret that I waited so long.
"101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles At Normandy" is a marvelous work on several fronts:
It is beautifully bound and presented; the layout and format are perfect for the subject matter; the photographs (many of them rare and quite beautiful) are heartwarming or bone chilling, as the case may be; the narrative is painstakingly researched from personal interviews of old soldiers and authentic military records; and, most importantly, the writing is masterful...accurate and careful as from a shrewd reporter's practiced and skeptical eye...loving and lyrical as from the pen of a writer of first rate fiction. I suspect Mark's experiences in "combat" on the dangerous streets of Detroit over the years have engendered in him a unique capacity to understand the special sensibilities of the combat veterans depicted in his book. Quite simply, "101st Airborne" is an astonishing accomplishment, worth reading more than once, and worth buying as gifts for the whole family, whether students of military history or not.
Mark has been very kind in his assessment of my own work elsewhere on this website. I am only sorry that I took so long to offer my heartiest endorsement of this first rate book. Get it. Read it. You'll be very happy you did.
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Summary: Outstanding reading from Mr. Bando
Review: Mark's love and research of the 101st Airborne is very evident. Once I started reading I couldnt put it down. The day by day account of the 501st and 502 PIRs almost left you as tired as the men that fought the battle. The information of equipment and how it was used and by whom was outstanding. It is a must have for any World War II airborne buff. I loved it.
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Summary: Bando Comes Through Again
Review: Once again, the relationships that Mark Bando has developed over 4 decades with literally hundreds of 101st. Airborne Division veterans have enabled him to present a book that brings the reader closer to understanding the contributions and sacrifice of the Screaming Eagles in the opening months of the Great Crusade. "101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy" is an excellent companion book to Bando's previous 101st. books. The book contains almost all new anecdotes, and many, many new images that have never before been published. Especially compelling are the many color photos developed from Kodachrome slides which give a new, much appreciated perspective to a war most often documented in black and white. As in his previous work, especially "Breakout," Bando's detective work and his strict attention to detail trumps the efforts of more well-known author/historians. Bando leaves no stone unturned in his quest to get the details right. I came away from the book with a renewed appreciation for the temporary nature of life in battle. Many of the soldiers depicted are simply here one moment, and gone the next. One just begins to have an insight into the personality and character of an individual soldier only to read a few sentences later "...was later killed in action." The book closes with a final chapter that puts the facts and fiction of "Private Ryan" into proper perspective. A must-have for those interested in WWII Airborne history.
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Summary: Things I didn't know
Review: Outragous book, my father was in this book and I had to call him to recount the details to me first hand. Because of this book, I now know more of the war my father fought in.
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