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  • Fierce Valor

  • The True Story of Ronald Speirs and His Band of Brothers
  • By: Jared Frederick, Erik Dorr
  • Narrated by: Chris Abell
  • Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (19 ratings)

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Fierce Valor

By: Jared Frederick,Erik Dorr
Narrated by: Chris Abell
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Summary

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 celebrated Easy Company during D-Day and beyond, whose ferocious courage and drive across three wars were matched by a devotion to duty and a hidden heart shadowed by lost love.

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.

©2022 Jared Frederick and Erik Dorr (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing

What listeners say about Fierce Valor

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Filled in some missing information

Great book. really interesting to hear the story from another side.
Great inside view with a lot of new information on the 101st

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 05-06-22

great look behind the curtain

this book does a great job of humanizing Speirs. I can't recommend it enough.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Psychofan1
  • 22-05-22

Great read!

This is a well written and well read book. I learned a lot about Spears I didn’t know. I have read nearly all the Easy Company memoirs available and this book really puts some pieces in place for me…

2 people found this helpful

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  • JWalkup
  • 30-06-22

Felt like a historical yet cursory summary

I never felt a connection to the character I so richly admired. The story came across as an chronological abstract of the military life of Ron Speers. So disappointed that he kept an interested and adoring public at arms length. As such the author didn’t have a personal view from the primary subject.

What a bummer.

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  • great great game
  • 06-06-22

strong and silent

Having read many of the Band of Brothers memoirs, this one is good, but not one of my favorites. I admit I liked his character in the mini-series, he was a tough Soldier. It still feels like I don't know much about him in his own words. After you listen/read maybe this will make more sense. He doesn't have the Paternal influence as Major Winters but still his memoir was inspiring and I do recommend it.

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  • Eric
  • 03-03-23

Great Insight Into A Memorable Character!

Have always loved the series but had little information on one it's most memorable Characters.
Great insight into a man who got the job done and did it well.

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  • Heidi K. Moffitt
  • 26-02-23

Never Forget 💝

A very important story I'm so glad to have heard that deserves to be remembered .Never Forget 💝

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 01-02-23

Great look into the life of a good officer

This book really helps fill in the gaps of Spiers. I never realized how much of an impact this guy really had on Easy Company. I went back and watched Band of Brothers again, and you can see how many times he shows up.

Loved the book. Glad to know more about this man.

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  • Jim Braunstein
  • 28-01-23

What a great book!

An excellent book about a brave, driven, conflicted, somewhat enigmatic, often frustrating warrior who lead men into war (actually 3 of them!). I can only imagine how challenging it was to put all the various facets of this story together and still be able to leave the reader to draw their own conclusions about this soldier.

It’s a great read (listen). I found it to be well written and well narrated. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Band of Brothers and the ilk. But I also recommend it for anyone who’s life is not completely cut and dried or devoid of some dark shadows lurking in it’s corners…which accounts for more of us than many would prefer to admit.

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  • Bob
  • 13-01-23

Band of Brothers fans will love this

Adds a lot of context to the miniseries. Great story of a very complex man and is excellently narrated.

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  • Samuel Bennett
  • 11-01-23

A character that was real who seems like fiction

I liked the character in the HBO series Band of Brothers, if there was anyone who's story needed more explanation it was Ronald Speirs. He was truly larger than life. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book.