Band of Brothers is a 2001 American war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 non-fiction book Band of Brothers. The executive producers were Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who had collaborated on the 1998 World War II film Saving Private Ryan.[4] The episodes first started airing on HBO September 9, 2001. The series won Emmy and Golden Globe awards in 2001 for best miniseries.