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, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Divison, U.S. Army, 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 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 during the Arnhem campaign; they were the Battered Bastards of the Bastion of Bastogne, 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 suspicious. 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 learned selflessness and found the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They discovered 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.

斯蒂芬·E．安布罗斯生于1936年，在威斯康星州怀特沃特长大。1960年，安布罗斯开始在新奥尔良大学任教，并着手撰写一本名为《责任、荣誉、国家》的西点军校史。他28岁时，艾森豪威尔总统请他为自己写传。

自那时以来，安布罗斯已经出版了二十多本书。其中的《D日——1944年6月6日》、《不屈不挠的意志》，《世上独一无二))被《纽约时报》列为畅销书。他担任过斯皮尔伯格的影片《拯救大兵瑞恩))的历史顾问，还参加了许多美国全国性电视节目的工作，包括由历史频道和国家地理频道制作的节目，并参与了HBO史诗性连续剧《兄弟连》的制作。

安布罗斯曾任位于新奥尔良的艾森豪威尔中心荣誉主任、《军事史学季刊》主笔、“美国河流”理事会成员、并且是“国家D日博物馆”的创建者。2002年10月13日因肺癌逝世，享年66岁。