Fans of Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers will be drawn to this
complex portrait of the controversial Ronald Speirs, an iconic commander
of Easy Company during World War II, whose ferocious courage in three
foreign conflicts was matched by his devotion to duty and the
bittersweet passions of wartime romance.
Fight Like You Mean to Win
His comrades called him "Killer." Of the elite paratroopers who served
in the venerated "Band of Brothers" during the Second World War, none
were more enigmatic than Ronald Speirs. Rumored to have gunned down
enemy prisoners and even one of his own disobedient sergeants, Speirs
became a foxhole legend among his troops. But who was the real
Lieutenant Speirs?
In Fierce Valor, historians Jared Frederick and Erik Dorr unveil the
fuller story of Easy Company's longest-serving commander. Tested by
trials of extreme training, military rivalry, and lost love, Speirs's
international odyssey begins as an immigrant child in Prohibition-era
Boston and continues through the bloody campaigns of France, Holland,
and Germany. But 1945 did not mark an end to Speirs's military
adventures. Uncovered by sharp scholarship, his lesser-known exploits in
Korea, the Cold War, and embattled Laos also come to light for the first
time.
Packed with groundbreaking research, Fierce Valor unveils a compelling
portrait of an officer defined by boldness on the battlefield and the
inherent costs of war. His story serves as a telling reminder that few
soldiers escape the power of their own pasts.
