(posted on my blog: davenichols.net)

Major Dick Winters, now infamously-known thanks to the character portrayal of his experiences in World War II with the 506th Parachute Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as depicted in the Stephen Ambrose book and HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers", has collected his thoughts and memories of those experience and written his own book about his role in winning the war in Europe.

For readers familiar with the Band of Brothers tales, Winters' stories will echo many of those same events, with the unique views that are belong to Winters himself. A relatively unassuming but sharp man, Winters portrays his role with humility and explains the war as it looked through his eyes and the eyes of his men.

From Toccoa to Normandy, and Holland to Belgium to Germany, Winters' role in the war was important and inspiring, especially to those who served under him. His frank descriptions of events provide a very nice compliment to the Ambrose versions of Easy Company, much of which relied heavily on Winters himself. Solid writing, engaging storytelling, and crucial events in a major war, Beyond is a strong but breezy read for any military reader. Four stars. ( )

I have nothing but admiration for the soldiers around the world who put their lives on the line in the name of their government's orders. It's their job, what they get paid for, and theirs is perhaps the most dangerous of all occupations. To this, I'd add that WWII veterans receive my special respect because of the nature of the time in which they fought. America was a different country then, with different ways of doing things, and a different sense of what the word "patriotism" meant. They say that it was the last "good war", if any could be attributed that way. And we're losing these men fast. Dick Winters, one of the most famous and most capable commanders of possibly the most famous combat unit in WWII, is perhaps the most exemplary of these men. As the leader of Easy Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, he led an amazing group of men through an amazing time, and the unit's accolades have been dutifully expressed in a variety of sources: Stephen Ambrose's book, Band of Brothers, HBO's mini-series of the same name, and a number of memoirs from men who actually fought in the unit. These sources go some way in telling the story of these soldiers, the war, and their sacrifice. The telling needed to be done, because we should all know what happened during those unimaginably important years.

Perhaps because I've been such a proponent of this idea, or maybe just because I'm such a passionate student of military history, or maybe even due to the fact that I've heard the story of Easy Company so many times, I found myself noticeably bored with the telling of the tale from the man who was in charge of that band of brothers. Yes, this is the fourth time I've been recounted the story from that angle of the war. Yes, Winters was an amazing leader, one of the last surviving members of the unit, and, for all purposes, the most astute archivist of Easy Company's social history. He deserves to be able to tell his story again, as he was there for all of it and is still sharp and thoughtful. But Winters and his contributing writer, Col. Cole Kingseed, are extremely poor at recounting it in a way that would remove the need for HBO's series or Ambrose's sober tone. What we get is a rambling, non-inspiring tour de force through Easy Company's time in the States, in the ETO, and beyond, all the while being continuously pushed and pulled between Winters' vacillations of humility and utter self-capability.

It's not that I have any problems with this absolutely prodigal combat leader telling his story in print. I just have a hard time getting past his pedestrian journalism. Even considering that this is a war memoir, I could not stop telling myself that it might have been better served with a series of extensive audio or video interviews. Of particular note and annoyance throughout the book is Winters' phantom modesty. For a man coming out of the woodwork in 1992 (via Ambrose's unit history) to be so humble and focused on the heroism of the men under his command was an inspiration and a lesson to us all about leadership. In desiring to convey a sense of that leadership in his book, however, Winters may have been instructed poorly by his publishers. We are indeed celebrating his life and his accomplishments, but to spend entire paragraphs describing how Winters, himself, was just doing his job, alternating between paragraphs of Winters telling us in detail about all the accolades showered upon him by the men under his command, his superior officers, and his legions of fans, feels a little disingenuous - or, at the least, conflicted. And if it happened once, it would be forgivable. But this formula is repeated over and over throughout the book, back and forth, from "just getting the job done" to telling us again and again how humble he really is. In effect, it felt very much like Winters did not really want to write the things he did about himself. Which leads me to ask why he did.

Beyond Band of Brothers is simply a case of one man telling his own story in his own words, when other renditions of his own words would have and have already sufficed. This account should not have been an auto-biography, but then again, there are already so many biographies out there about Dick Winters and the inconceivable trials over which he and his men triumphed. Don't let this review stop you from lauding this amazing commander, because his should be celebrated. Just be sure that he has contributed to the historical timeline and to our modern awareness of WWII in much better ways than this book conveys.

an exclamation point to the story of WWII’s E/506 P.I.R.

If you enjoyed Ambrose's Band of Brothers you'll love Dick Winter's wartime memoir written just in time. See also: Biggest Brother by Larry Alexander. ( )

A ghost written biography of Dick Winters, now made famous by the HBO mini-series. Helps separate the fact from the fiction in the mini-series. There is another Winters biography written by a reporter as opposed to a military man that I hope to read in the near futre and compare with this one. ( )