Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: November 11, 2002
Publishing house: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: October 15, 2002
Sale Popularity Level: 536644
Studio: Simon & Schuster
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
In To America, Stephen Ambrose, one of America's most influential historians, reflects on his long career as and explains what an historian's job is all about. When Stephen Ambrose became intersted in American history at age 18, there was much that America had done that made him proud, but there were some things he condemned as well, for instance slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, racist Southern politicians, the Robber Barons of the transcontinental railroad, the use of the atomic bomb. All through his undergraduate and graduate years from 1953-1960, Ambrose learned such ideas from his professors and believed and then taught them himself when he became a teacher of history in 1960. But after reasearching and writing about the Civil War in graduate school, Eisenhower in the 60s, Crazy Horse and Custer, Lewis and Clark, Nixon, the transcontinental railroad, and World War II over the subsequent three decades, Ambrose's views on American history changed. In his new book the renowned historian celebrates America's spirit and confronts its failures and struggles. As always in his much acclaimed work, Ambrose brings alive the men and women, famous and not, who have peopled history and made the United States the superpower it is now.
Amazon.com Review:
'I am a storyteller by training and inclination,' writes the late Stephen Ambrose in To America, his final book. And what a storyteller. One of the most respected and popular historians of his era, Ambrose had a passion for making the events of the past both relevant and entertaining. In these pages, he touches on many of the subjects that he devoted his career to, including presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, the journey of Lewis and Clark, the building of the transcontinental railroad, and the citizen soldiers of World War II. He also writes about his own personal story and his role as a historian. In detailing a family camping trip to Wounded Knee (an outing which directly led to his dual biography of Crazy Horse and George Armstrong Custer) or offering tips on vivid historical writing (keep your narration in chronological order; keep the reader guessing; and never use the passive voice), he shares what it is like to reflect upon the triumphs and mistakes of the past and why it is so important to pass those stories on to the subsequent generation.
In this brief yet satisfying book, Ambrose moves seamlessly from one topic to the subsequent with contagious enthusiasm and unapologetic optimism. Along the way he points out the inherent absurdity of political correctness, and even takes himself to task for past biases and for sometimes failing to consider his subjects within the context of their own times and not his own. He does not shy away from writing about America's sins, both past and present, but Ambrose's undying faith in his country and his fellow citizens is inspiring. --Shawn Carkonen
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I, like many other readers/history buffs, greatly respect Ambrose for his ability to take a portion of history and give it personality and make you care.
This book is really a compilation of medium length forays into different aspects of American history. So, if you want a book that covers a wide variety of historical topics but still gives you a ton of information, pick this one up. This would be a fantastic vacation book for the history buff.
As I mentioned in the title, this book is very dense with facts and information. I had been reading for a while and was thinking about how much historical terrain I had covered. I checked the page and realized that I was only about 25 pages into the book. Luckily, Mr. Ambrose has a very personable writing style and keeps the reader interested while packing in the information. While the book is dense with information, it feels to be a very casual read.
I would recommend this book highly. These essays touch on many of the same topics Ambrose has written whole books about and give the reader a taste of the topic that may lead to further interest in the larger collection on each subject.
Rated by buyers -
Stephen E. Ambrose writes in a descriptive and knowledgeable, yet fun tone that continues to draw readers back to each of his compelling books. "To America" is no exception to this as it shows an interesting view on main historical happenings in the United States from foundation to present day. After reading this book I was left with many new details and actualities about our nations' history. Ambrose sheds a new light on historicalfigures such as the Founding Fathers, Nixon, Theodore Roosevelt, and Andrew Jackson. He gives details about battles so descriptive that the reader feels like they could have been there.
As I read "To America", I gained valuable knowledge that was never covered in any history class. Ambrose explains misunderstood ideas of quite a few important people, often going deeply into detail about their lives and careers. Besides obvious stories and events given about America, Ambrose also writes about his own life as an historian and author.
Anyone who reads this book will feel that they have a new set of facts about American History. With each story told, Ambrose gives the facts that are often skipped over in textbooks or lectures. Ambrose ties this book together with a powerful sense of nationalism and American spirit.
I would recommend "To America" to any reader who is looking for a new, more detailed view on U.S. History. I give it a 4 out of 5 because although it is somewhat long, any reader breezes throughwhile enjoying Ambroses confrontation of Americas successes and it failures. The reader also is able to much better understand the career of a famous and influential historian.
Rated by buyers -
My mother-in-law gave me this book as a gift. It not a title I would have selected myself, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The rather than a single contiguous work, it is twenty essays (too formal a word) about some of the commonly held 'truths' in Modern America about issues in our history. Mr. Ambrose introduces the issue, the 'commonly' held position on modern america, then describes how he formulated his opinion as he researched different projects. The issues addressed include: The duality of Thomas Jefferson's as Author of the Declaration of Independence and a Slaveholder, Theodore Roosevelt's imperialism, Richard Nixon, Vietnam, many aspects of World War II, Race in the 1960s, and The Battle of New Orleans. The book is written in a storytellers style, which keeps it very quick paced.
Rated by buyers 
-
I bought this book not really knowing what to expect, but as an aspiring historian, I could not resist the final, personal work of one of America's greatest historians' (at $7 to boot). Providing a diverse set of passages that, though they don't always tie together very well, are a pleasure to read.
Early on, Ambrose describes various instances of American history he feels are important, defining moments. These are OK, and Ambrose often attempts to `set the record straight' on different areas from Washington (best president ever), Jefferson (hypocrite but good writer), the robber barons (ultimately good), and Teddy Roosevelt (first interventionist president and conservationist).
The middle section of the book is its weakest. Here, this is a nationalist book, albeit somewhat apologetically so, but truth be told, not really thoughtfully so. If the book had a thesis, it would be that American history (more than any other nation in the world) is about freedom at home and spreading it abroad. Nothing wrong as such, though it can be rather jarring for a non-American who also lives in a free country to read that Americans live in the "freest nation on Earth". It can also be unintentionally tragic-comical as when he writes that had Americans lost the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, the city would have been turned into "a southern version of Montreal" (not a disastrous prospect, either for the slaves living near the city then, nor given the state of city today, though Ambrose could not have a known that).
The real problem, in a book of this length, is the question of emphasis. Teddy's colonialism in the Philippines, Cuba and Panama makes way for his conservationism. As he asserts America was not imperialist post-1945, he will remind us of Ike's opposition to French Algeria but saves Truman's support for French Indochina for his chapter on Vietnam (which is, presumably unrepresentative of the general trend of US history). To prove that America was not imperialist after WW2, he cites Eisenhower's opposition to Anglo-French imperialism at Suez in 1956 but omits that same administration's role in destroying nascent democracies in the Congo and Iran. And, of course, we get reminded of America's role in creating the German and Japanese democracies again and again. (In my personal opinion, America supports democracy if and when she perceives it to be non-threatening to her interests. Which is much of the time, but not when radicals (Islamists, Communists) look ready to win, or it might deprive her of some strategic resource (Panama Canal, oil, copper, cobalt etc.).)
That is not to say Ambrose does not concede the usual sins of America's past (slavery, Jim Crow, women's rights, treatment of natives, colonialism etc,) but one feels he loves his subject too much for these to be anything more than a sideshow. The 8-page chapter on racism is about his personal experiences. Black history is for the most part limited to a few mandatory nods to MLK. That Ambrose feels the need to (albeit briefly) mention sexism, racism and imperialism says much, I think, about America. In that it is important to read. Americans wish to believe they've been exceptionally good since there founding as a nation, which poses problems when, say, a Jefferson or a Teddy is not found to be morally acceptable by today's standards. I think this is a rather American characteristic, no English historian feels morally at stake when determining whether Henry the Eighth was sexist, nor would a French historian feel the need to excuse Francis the First for not being democratic...
Ambrose's `memoir' sections are the best. The parts on the place of racism and sexism in his life are informative. His descriptions of researching and writing books are a veritable goldmine of advice and experience for any aspiring historian or even any writer. Whether it is his decade-long study of Nixon, his very first written pieces as a student on obscure figures in the Civil War, his personal struggle with Vietnam or his relationships with Eisenhower and WW2 veterans (American, British and German!), I found them highly enjoyable and informative.
In all, I would not call this a great book, but it is in many places a good book. Although Ambrose fails in his ambition to show America be all that exceptional in most respects, he does succeed in sharing the sense of optimism that is characteristic of American society. And even when To America isn't particularly good, it is certainly good to read for any non-American because it seems to encapsulate America's self-perception as a force for freedom along with its self-doubt induced by the less glorious aspects of her past.
Rated by buyers -
I have loved many of Ambrose's books, but this one really brought home to me the debt we have to those who went before. He's not afraid to say someone is not absolutely perfect (i.e. Jefferson) or absolutely evil (i.e. Nixon). But what he does show is that the American way, with a sense of right and wrong, has prevailed up to the end of the 20th Century, and by implication, that sense of right and wrong need to be there for us to continue into the 21st Century.
Thank you, Mr. Ambrose, for this goodbye card to America.
Find other books like this one:
