Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers is a ten-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. It was executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks after their successful collaboration on the Academy Award-winning World War II film Saving Private Ryan (1998). The episodes first aired in 2001 on HBO and is still run frequently on various TV networks around the world.

The narrative centers on the experiences of E Company ("Easy Company") of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, from Easy's basic training at Toccoa, Georgia, through the American airborne landings in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, the Battle of Bastogne and on to the end of the war.

The events portrayed are based on Ambrose's research and recorded interviews with Easy Company veterans. A lot of literary license has been taken with the episodes, and other reference books will highlight the differences between recorded history and the film version. All of the characters portrayed are based on actual members of Easy Company; some of them can be seen in prerecorded interviews as a prelude to each episode (their identities, however, are not revealed until the close of the finale).