AMERICAN HERITAGE: GREAT MINDS of HISTORY interviews by Roger Mudd

Published in 1999 by Wiley and Sons.

Roger Mudd, formerly of CBS and NBC news, interviewed five historians about their special topics of expertise. They are all solid interviews that allow the historians to tell why their topics are important. Mudd does a great job of letting the interviews flow along a natural conversational path, but he does interrupt with questions that ask for clarification or challenge a point.

The historians are: Gordon Wood discussing the American Revolution; James McPherson discussing the Civil War; Richard White discussing Westward Expansion; David McCullough discussing the Industrial Era; and Stephen Ambrose discussing World War II/Eisenhower/Nixon.

This was a lot like sitting down with a talented professor in a coffee shop and letting him/her go on about their favorite topic. They weren't lectures, but more like a conversation. I know the work of four of these five historians and have read quite a bit of McCullough, Ambrose and McPherson.

McPherson is my favorite of these three since he and I share a deep interest in the Civil War. I was surprised to learn that he came to study the Civil War later than I thought. McCullough's interview is interesting because of his wide-ranging interests. He discussed the Industrial Era, but he has done a lot of work outside of that time as well, including a great biography of Truman and a history of just the year 1776 during the American Revolution. Ambrose's interview very much felt like my previous impressions of Ambrose - great historian, occasionally a prickly personality.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. Very enjoyable read. It can be found on Amazon.com here: AMERICAN HERITAGE: GREAT MINDS of HISTORY interviews by Roger Mudd.

The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won by Stephen E. Ambrose

Great book for school age kids

Published in 2001 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Stephen E. Ambrose is perhaps best known as the author of Band of Brothers, the book that inspired the HBO mini-series of the same name. His passion for World War II continues in this book aimed at upper elementary through high school students.

A Kamikaze plane about to hit an American ship
(In the book on page 78)

While there is nothing new in The Good Fight, it is a fantastic introduction to the war. All of the major theaters are covered and, perhaps best of all, there is a full page 10" x 10"  picture from the war that show everything from the home front to kamikaze planes to Hitler in a elaborate Nazi rally to Holocaust victims and even more. Those pictures and the little ones scattered on the other pages make the book much more vivid. There are also plenty of pictures of the young men and women that were involved - pictures that make the war seem more real. Throw in Ambrose's mastery of the details and great writing and this is a must have book for any library or grades 5-12 history classroom.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Good Fight : How World War II Was Won.

Reviewed on March 29, 2012.

Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West (abridged) (audiobook) by Stephen E. Ambrose

Wonderful, just wonderful.

Published by Simon and Schuster Audio
Read by Cotter Smith
Duration: 4.5 hours 
Abridged

A family friend gave me the abridged audio version of Undaunted Courage. It has been on my "to read" list for years and I'd never quite gotten around to it but, boy, am I glad I finally did.

Meriwether Lewis
(1774-1809)

In Ambrose's hands the story of the Lewis & Clark expedition is lifted from the stale and stilted pages of the history textbooks and it becomes an exciting narrative - full of adventure, wonder and tons of hard work.

Ambrose is a gifted writer. I am reminded of the David McCullough quote: "No harm's done to history by making it something someone would want to read." No danger of that with Ambrose. Not only has he read everything there is to be found on the topic but has traveled the route several times.

William Clark
(1770-1838)

Cotter Smith did a great job of reading the text and keeping up with its lively prose (with the single exception of mis-pronouncing the capital city of South Dakota - he called it Pierre, like the French name, but they proudly pronounce it "peer".) 

Stephen Ambrose himself handled the intro and conclusion. I can't wait to pass on this audiobook to someone else.

I rate this audiobook 5 out of 5 stars.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Reviewed November 9, 2007.

Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals (abridged audiobook) by Stephen E. Ambrose

Very good

Published by Audioworks in 1999.
Read by the author, Stephen Ambrose.
Duration: approximately 3 hours on audio cassette.
Abridged.

Ambrose's stories of male friendship in Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals would be good in any format, but why read what Ambrose wrote when you can hear him read it to you? There is the added benefit of hearing Ambrose's emphasis on a phrase, his light-hearted tone in some areas and, even more important to the emotional punch of some of the stories, hearing his voice break at particularly touching moments (perhaps the most touching was a comment that is highlighted in HBO's Band of Brothers. A veteran of Easy Company is asked by his grandson, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" "No. I served in a company of heroes.")

Stephen Ambrose
(1936-2002)

Ambrose focused on the friendship he and his brothers share, his friends from college, from work, the friendships of Lewis and Clark, Dwight Eisenhower and his brother Milton, Lewis and Clark, the men of Easy Company in 'Band of Brothers', the friendship of men who fought against one another in war but meet again as old men and the friendship between Ambrose and his father. I was surprised that he did not mention the friendship that he shares with his sons since he did the friendship between he shared with his father. Perhaps it was edited out in the abridgement.

Ambrose comments on the beauty of friendship between old men - no rivalry, nothing but support and love. He notes that he can't wait until he is old and can enjoy such friendships. Sadly, Ambrose died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 66.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Sons, Pals by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Reviewed on April 5, 2007.

To America: Personal Reflections of a Historian by Stephen E. Ambrose

Originally published in 2002.

To America: Personal Reflections of a Historian wanders and meanders its way through American history and, while this may bother others, personally, I love it. For me, it was as if I were able to sit and listen in on a conversation with a master story-teller.

Ambrose discusses such things as the hypocrisy of Jefferson ('unalienable rights' for all men - how about your own slaves?) and most of the Founding Fathers - but still he does not just topple them for their hypocrisy - he also points out, with wonder, that they accomplished the near-impossible. He also notes the seeds for social change that they all planted, such as universal education (Jefferson). In fact, he directly confronts the 'but he was a slaveholder' mentality - acknowledge the terrible fault - in fact, insist on acknowledging it. But, judge them by the whole of their work.

Stephen E. Ambrose
(1936-2002)

Ambrose covers such flawed men as Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt in a similar fashion. He also discusses other things that he had a hand in, such as D-Day museum, the Band of Brothers TV shows and the process of writing.

Ambrose also throws in his own personal experiences - both with items of a historical nature (such as his own experiences as a vocal protester of the Vietnam War - some he's proud of and others that he wished he wouldn't have done) and his own experiences with success and tragedy.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: To America: Personal Reflections of a Historian by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Reviewed on May 14, 2005.

Character Above All: Ten Presidents from FDR to George Bush edited by Robert A. Wilson

Fascinating! Informative!

Published in 1996.

As the title implies, Character Above All: Ten Presidents from FDR to George Bush is a collection of biographical essays on each of the 10 presidents from FDR to George H.W. Bush (Bush 41) by 10 different authors who are either expert historians or knew the President while in office. The thing that ties them all together is that each essay is supposed to look at each man as president and find that one part of his character that made him the type of president he was. Each essay is about 30 pages and it makes for interesting reading.

A good sample would come from Doris Kearns Goodwin's look at Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She asserts that the most valuable component of his personality was his self-confidence. I thought this quote from FDR makes the point wonderfully: "I'll tell you...at night when I lay my head on my pillow, and it is often pretty late, and I think of the things that have come before me during the day and the decisions that I have made, I say to myself - well, I have done the best that I could, and turn over and go to sleep."

The essays are wonderful - some inspiring, such as Gerald Ford's, some disturbing such as JFK's. However, all are well-written and this is a fantastic collection.

This book can be found on Amazon here: Character Above All: Ten Presidents from FDR to George Bush   

I rate this book 5 stars out of a possible 5 stars.
 
Reviewed on February 11, 2005.

Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals (audiobook) by Stephen E. Ambrose

An Interesting Study of Male Friendship


Published in 2001 by Recorded Books.
4 compact discs
4.5 hours
read by Nelson Runger

Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals is an exploration into male friendship by renowned historian and author Stephen E. Ambrose (1936-2002).

He looks into different kinds of friendship including friendship between brothers, friendship among schoolmates (especially college), friends from among his students, friendship among men who have been in combat together, friendship as young men, friendship as old men and the friendship that can develop between a father and son once his son is an adult.

Stephen E. Ambrose
(1936-2002)

Specific friendships studied include:

-The three Ambrose brothers;

-Dwight and Milton Eisenhower;

-The Custer Brothers, who all died at Little Big Horn;

-Crazy Horse and He-Dog;

-Eisenhower and Patton - two very different men who respected and valued their differences;

-Nixon as the friendless man (talented, driven but no skill at being himself and making friends);

-Ambrose's best friend;

-Lewis and Clark (perhaps the most poignant tale of the bunch);

-The men of Easy Company from his book Band of Brothers (perhaps the most touching of the book was a comment that is highlighted in HBO's serialized version of Band of Brothers - a veteran of Easy Company is asked by his grandson, "Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?" "No. I served in a company of heroes.")

-Men who fought against each other but meet and become friends decades after the war;

-Ambrose and his father.

Fans of Ambrose will note that there is absolutely no new ground covered in this book - all of the people in this book are mentioned in other books, with the possible exception of his family stories. However, this is an interesting and useful analysis by a veteran historian who has finally completed enough studying to observe some basic characteristics of human nature.

I wonder why Ambrose did not mention his own sons when discussing the friendships between sons and fathers.

Ambrose comments on the beauty of friendship between old men - no rivalry, nothing but support and love. He notes that he can't wait until he is old and can enjoy such friendships. Sadly, Ambrose died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 66.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Reviewed October 23, 2010.

Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany: June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945 (audiobook) by Stephen Ambrose

Beautifully told - in all of its splendor and horror

5 CDs
Approximately 5 Hours

Abridged.
Also includes a tiny 6 panel map of the war zones.

Cotter Smith masterfully narrates a wonderful re-telling of Ambrose's favorite topic - the Western European theater of World War II. Citizen Soldiers would serve as a fantastic introduction to this topic, but also is told well enough that someone who has read it all before, like me, found it interesting, informative and entertaining.

Ambrose spices up the story with a lot of stories about regular soldiers at the front. We learn about the challenges, the humor, and the horrors of the fight. Some are soldiers you've never heard of, others are more famous such as Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse-five) and Jimmy Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Stephen Ambrose

). Some stories make you laugh out loud, the Vonnegut Christmas story was so sad that I turned off the CD player and drove the rest of the way home in silence because it just didn't seem right to go on.

Highly recommended.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Citizen Soldiers.

Reviewed on March 24, 2010.