Hermanos de sangre

La apasionante historia de la legendaria Compañía E. Este es el clásico de la historia militar en el que se basó la aclamada serie de la plataforma HBO Hermanos de sangre sobre la Compañía E del ejército de Estados Unidos, una de las unidades con una trayectoria más extraordinaria durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial y que estuvo en primera línea durante varios de los momentos más críticos de la contienda. Se lanzaron en paracaídas en Francia la madrugada del Día D y destruyeron una batería de cuatro cañones de 105 mm que disparaba sobre la playa de Utah; volvieron a saltar en paracaídas en Holanda durante la campaña de Arnhem; fueron los héroes que resistieron en Bastogne el contraataque alemán durante la batalla de las Ardenas a pesar de estar completamente rodeados, y luego encabezaron la contraofensiva. Finalmente, capturaron el puesto avanzado bávaro de Hitler, su Nido del Aguila en Berchtesgaden, y se bebieron su vino. Eran tipos rudos, golpeados por la Depresión. Bebían demasiado, saqueaban lo que podían y se peleaban con otros soldados. Pero en el ejército se convirtieron en hermanos, forjaron una camaradería indestructible y aprendieron a sacrificarse por los demás. Se convirtieron en héroes. Incluye un prólogo de Tom Hanks.

Stephen E. Ambrose’s classic New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the acclaimed HBO series about Easy Company, the ordinary men who became the World War II’s most extraordinary soldiers at the frontlines of the war's most critical moments. Featu-ring a foreword from Tom Hanks.

They came together, citizen soldiers, in the summer of 1942, drawn to Airborne by the $50 monthly bonus and a desire to be better than the other guy. And at its peak—in Holland and the Ardennes—Easy Company was as good a rifle company as any in the world.

From the rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to the disbanding in 1945, Stephen E. Ambrose tells the story of this remarkable company. In combat, the reward for a job well done is the next tough assignment, and as they advanced through Europe, the men of Easy kept getting the tough assignments.

They parachuted into France early D-Day morning and knocked out a battery of four 105 mm cannon looking down Utah Beach; they parachuted into Holland du-ring the Arnhem campaign; they were the Battered Bastards of the Bastion of Bas-togne, brought in to hold the line, although surrounded, in the Battle of the Bulge; and then they spearheaded the counteroffensive. Finally, they captured Hitler's Bavarian outpost, his Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

They were rough-and-ready guys, battered by the Depression, mistrustful and sus-picious. They drank too much French wine, looted too many German cameras and watches, and fought too often with other GIs. But in training and combat they lear-ned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discove-red that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them.

This is the story of the men who fought, of the martinet they hated who trained them well, and of the captain they loved who led them. E Company was a company of men who went hungry, froze, and died for each other, a company that took 150 percent casualties, a company where the Purple Heart was not a medal—it was a badge of office.