By and large, Holland omits the stories of the regiment's support echelons. These men vastly outnumbered the tankers, played a vital role, but are mostly nameless and deedless (with the exception of the chaplain who took it upon himself to retrieve and bury the blown-up remains of the dead - a ghastly war for him) Powerful and moving...James Holland's greatest strength as a military historian is that he brings humanity to his work. Brothers In Arms does more than just tell the story of the Sherwood Rangers...Holland has delved into their world and brought their characters to life. The Spectator Pritzker Military Presents – Episode: 'The War in the West: The Rise of Germany, 1939 – 1941 (PBS, 2015) worst of all for any British troops moving along this road, men with panzerfausts. The Germans had spent the war designing, building and operating an array of incredibly complex and sophisticated weaponry, but this simple, mass-produced tube of metal was ensuring there was no easy ride for the Sherwood Rangers or any other Allied troops advancing deep into Germany.All in all, the Rangers had a full war, but while the achievements are quite astounding:

The Sherwood Rangers were one of the great tank regiments. They had learned their trade the hard way, under the burning sun of North Africa, on the battlefields of El Alamein and Alam el Halfa. By the time they landed on Gold Beach on D-Day, they were toughened by experience and ready for combat. Well, that is an exaggeration (But! Not! By! Much!); there is just too much personal development here for my taste. Holland was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire. [1] He was educated at Chafyn Grove School, Salisbury, and King's School, Bruton, and in 1992 attained a BA degree in history from St Chad's College, Durham. [2] His elder brother Tom Holland is a writer and historian. Using diaries and memoirs from dozens of men from across a broad range of ranks and roles within the 686-strong regiment, Holland gives the reader a chance to see the impact of war on individuals. In the case of George Dring – who is, with the exception of Stanley Christopherson, probably the only member of the SRY to be widely known – it is a fascinating read.Holland has written two young adult novels about teenage soldiers taking part in famous World War II battles: Duty Calls: Dunkirk (2011) [17] and Duty Calls: Battle of Britain (2012). [18] Documentaries [ edit ]

In many ways, then, Holland has achieved his aim of writing a British version of Stephen E Ambrose’s Band of Brothers; the use of ‘brothers’ in the title is surely a nod to that classic of Second World War literature. Their [the Sherwood Rangers] story can be seen as a reflection of the British war as a whole and Holland tells it very well, using his trademark technique of immersive detail and a cast of well-defined characters. If you are a fan of his style and I am, you will find that once again it works brilliantly The Daily TelegraphThe Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History, May - October, 1940. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 978-0552156103. Through compelling eye-witness testimony and James Holland's expert analysis, Brothers In Arms brings to vivid life the final bloody scramble across Europe and gives the most powerful account to date of what it was really like to fight in the dying days of World War Two. Mr. Holland sympathetically captures the chaos swirling inside the 30-ton beasts . . . [He] ably sets up his main characters: men he had the good fortune to interview, or those who left detailed diaries, letters and reminiscences behind . . . Brothers in Arms tells a superb story of World War II’s destruction with a breadth that small-unit narratives cannot match.”—J onathan W. Jordan, Wall Street Journal The Nottingham Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry near Enschede, during the liberation of the Netherlands in April 1945. Image: Wikimedia Commons. Historians usually describe battles through individual testimonies from multiple positions: German and British, civilians and soldiers, other ranks and officers. In this book, the reader is shown one perspective: that of a Sherman tank regiment fighting hard.