Historian Ambrose hails “Band of Brothers”

Historian Stephen Ambrose has praised the Steven Spielberg–Tom Hanks miniseries Band of Brothers as “the most accurate depiction that Hollywood’s ever done of World War II. … It’s simply superb.” The miniseries, which debuts on HBO on Sunday, is based on Ambrose’s 1993 bestseller about the D-Day invasion. In an interview appearing in today’s (Friday) Boston Globe, Ambrose said that although Spielberg invited him to contribute to the TV adaptation, he declined on the grounds that “I don’t know how to write movies; I know how to write books.” Nevertheless, he says, he is “almost in awe” at how faithful the filmmakers have been to the book. He observes that D-Day veterans who watched a screening of the film with him “were in some cases shaken” by the experience. And New York Post TV critic Adam Buckman writes today: “After watching the 10-hour Band of Brothers, I’m so drained by the intensity of what I have just beheld that I’m ready to declare this World War II miniseries the finest piece of work ever produced for television.”