Rating: 
Summary: Bigger would be better......
Review: Given the sheer amount of written material produced by Ambrose during his lifetime, I was expecting a heftier, more encompassing effort. To America is a retrospect on the subjects he has tackled before interspersed within a personal history. WWII has been an Ambrose mainstay and this book lingers primarily there.Most remarkable is the author's frank admission that the craft of historian has fundamentally altered his core opinions of U.S. foreign policy over the duration of his academic career. He has shifted from critical to conciliatory, from assumption to epiphany, from professorial conformity to intuitive pragmatism. Ambrose challenges the book's momentum by abruptly discoursing upon race relations and women's rights. And, while these issues are of undeniable importance, they are somewhat too tangential to the book's former direction to flow. His wife Moira figures prominently, as perhaps she should, but fans of D-Day, Undaunted Courage, Band of Brothers, etc., may wish for more pages assigned to Ambrose's "public" domain. All said and done, however, I enjoyed the book for what it was: A quick, entertaining read compensating for it's lack of detail and heft with the patented, down-to-earth, plainspoken writing style of one of America's most prominent contemporary historians.
Rating:
Summary: Bigger would be better......
Review: Given the sheer amount of written material produced by Ambrose during his lifetime, I was expecting a heftier, more encompassing effort. To America is a retrospect on the subjects he has tackled before interspersed within a personal history. WWII has been an Ambrose mainstay and this book lingers primarily there. Most remarkable is the author's frank admission that the craft of historian has fundamentally altered his core opinions of U.S. foreign policy over the duration of his academic career. He has shifted from critical to conciliatory, from assumption to epiphany, from professorial conformity to intuitive pragmatism. Ambrose challenges the book's momentum by abruptly discoursing upon race relations and women's rights. And, while these issues are of undeniable importance, they are somewhat too tangential to the book's former direction to flow. His wife Moira figures prominently, as perhaps she should, but fans of D-Day, Undaunted Courage, Band of Brothers, etc., may wish for more pages assigned to Ambrose's "public" domain. All said and done, however, I enjoyed the book for what it was: A quick, entertaining read compensating for it's lack of detail and heft with the patented, down-to-earth, plainspoken writing style of one of America's most prominent contemporary historians.
Rating: 
Summary: Gee Whiz!
Review: Golly be and gee haw. I didn't realize the USA won WWII singlehandedly until I read this book. I guess this means the other 200 odd books I've read on the subject were all bunk. Glad I ran into Mr. Ambrose to clear up the matter. The section on WWII has many inaccuracies (perhaps more they are slights of facts). To a casual reader it implies that the USA beat Germany almost singlehandedly. The historical facts show that the USA probably added 10 to 15% to the fall of Germany. Germany spent about 70 to 75% of its war effort against the Soviets. They probably spent anoter 15% against Britain, spread over six years. They were also fighting the Serbs, the various partisans, Italians after 43, etc.: you've got to give those groups credit for at least 5% to 8% of the German war effort. That only leaves about 10% for the USA to beat. For a point of reference: perhaps you've read about the Soviet history books that show them as almost alone, defeating the Japanese. Fact is the USA took on the bulk, probably 80 to 90% of the Japanese war effort and destroyed it. The Soviets got in late and beat the Japanese army in Manchuria - that's about it. Now I'm as much a flag waver as anybody, but this sort of stuff being passed off as history makes me boil. Save it for the war posters. I prefer to read real history rather than a collection of puff pieces and propaganda.
Rating: 
Summary: Amateurish
Review: Ho-Hum, not his best by any means. I found his sick sexual comments distracting, added nothing and below that of someone with his credentials.
Rating:
Summary: Amateurish
Review: Ho-Hum, not his best by any means. I found his sick sexual comments distracting, added nothing and below that of someone with his credentials.
Rating:
Summary: Too many void patriotic cliches for my taste
Review: I read this book largely because I was curious about Stephen Ambrose whose name I often saw cited as a comtemporary American historian. This is a personal reflection of the author in which he tries to explain his political evolution (he started his career by being a liberal anti-war activist but he came to become much more conservative later in life). He also attempts to pay justice to historical figures (Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt) that many comtemporaries have come to criticize. I was not very impressed by the book. I find that a large part of it is used to justify portions of the US history that I find hard to justify (he justifies for instance, bombing Hiroschima and Nagazaki, finds the recent condemnation of Jefferson as a slave holder unfair, finds the threatment of native american unfair but fails to condemn in outright without making reservations, etc. etc). I was interested to hear a different perspective that mine, I found that mostly he was reasserting void patriotic and ethnocentric cliches "the freest country on earth... the American century... The American won the second world war..." without giving them much substance. As an example of this line of thinking he addresses the critiques of Teddy Roosevelt's imperilist policies. His argument is that Teddy Roosevelt had a great vision in a) instigating Federal protection of natural area b) had a clear vision of "America's rightful place in the world affair." While I agree on the first point (TR's achievement in protecting the natural patrimony of the US), Ambrose gives me little reason why his interventionist policies where not imperialism or why America's "rightful place in the word" implies foreign military intervention. What saves the book despite this, is the fact that as an opinion piece, the author does have some historical vision and insights and he does present faily well a number of more liberal arguments (even though I am personnally quite unconvinced by the answers he gives). I suppose that how you feel about the book depends on your opinion before you read it. If you believe that, say, using the nuclear bomb on Japan was justified in the context of the second world war (it helped saving life and ended the war earlier, etc.), reading this book will make you feel validated. If on the other hand, you find that these were unjustifiable acts (by themselves, given the fact that Japanese were ready to surrender without the bomb, because it has a racist element behind it - US would not have used the same weapon against Germany, because it had more to do with avoiding that Japan surrendered to Stalin, etc.), this book will probably mostly irritate you but it may give you a perspective from the other side.
Rating: 
Summary: Ambrose Lives On For America
Review: I strongly recommend this book to be read as a goodbye from Ambrose. A wave goodbye from the other side with a final word, "History should be studied by objective minds that refuse to view the people of the past through the eyes of our 21st century." Ambrose covers a lot of territory in this book; therefore he presents the most important points of the subject at hand. A previous reviewer was unfair in his assessment of Ambrose not going into as much detail as he should. If he had, then it would've required a separate book for each subject. Ambrose's last testament begs the question of how political correctness has bastardized history and that it's time historians and professors document history correctly and teach it honestly. To the other reviewer who says he's sad that he will not be able to read Ambrose's view of the Pacific Theater of WWII-I say not to worry. I understand that Ambrose's son will complete the book.
Rating:
Summary: Ambrose will lift your spirits...
Review: I've always liked Stephen Ambrose - even though he hoodwinked me by putting out a book about McGovern's WWII exploits under the guise of a book like "Band of Brothers"... Normally, I am careful to thumb through the text prior to buying, but with regards to "Wild Blue", I picked it up on the strength of Ambrose himself, and my love for WWII airmen... Okay, I won't dwell, but it did represent my winter of discontent with Mr. Ambrose. "To America" is a different story altogether. While Ambrose is no Cornelius Ryan, he can spin staccato and disjointed historical events into highly readable prose. "To America" is a compilation of some of America's most historically important times. For me, the book worked - the chapters were historically concise, flowed well, and Mr. Ambrose made quite an emotional portrayal of not only the events, but his discovery of them. I was very impressed with his take on the Vietnam War, and in Richard Nixon in particular. As much as I cannot forgive Nixon for dragging our country into a hugely depressing period coinciding with the tail end of the war, I thank Mr. Ambrose for painting a picture of Nixon, as a true statesman, in the context of his time. We are all too human, as our greatest leaders (Jefferson, FDR, Johnson, Nixon and Clinton) demonstrated in no uncertain terms. Buy the book, and give it away as a gift... It most certainly was Stephen Ambrose's gift to America.
Rating:
Summary: More books like this should be written
Review: In today's society we seldom think about the mistakes we may be repeating. We forge ahead, undaunted as to the consequences of our actions. Books like this, good, thoughtful books, are a priceless addition to our society and our minds. I enjoyed this book more than any I have read lately. My oldest daughter is next on the list to read this book and she's nine!
Rating:
Summary: Recollections of an American Historian
Review: It is interesting in the country we live in that so few people are interested in being good citizens. Especially in academia; it is routine to lambast this country while touting the ills of other countries and how the US is responsible. Don't get me wrong; I'm no zealot, but a patriot; veteran of Desert Storm and a police officer. It is nice to see a historian with some positive views of this great country. Travelling through the world has taught me what a very special place this country really is. Ambrose, in his writings had continually stated this.
In this book Ambrose changes from a purely fact-telling mission to a view on his philosphy. Ambrose freely admits that his "editorial" style in this book has no place in a purely historical setting, but his editorial manner is what draws me into this book. I have read nearly all of Ambrose's books and found their depth and knowledge to be commendable. But I never really learned much about the man writing them' this book clears at least a bit of that up. From his rural childhood to his years as a student and later a professor, we see how a man's views evolve, mature and change. This is easily comparable to any of our lives. One does not keep his attitudes and opinions in a vacuum, they evolve as we interact with different people and go to different places.
Technically, this book is a bit challenging, with the stories told in a rambling, fireside chat style. But they have an message to tell: this country, even with all its shortcomings (and there are plenty!), is unquestionably the greatest nation on this earth. We are what other aspire to be. While this book is not great literature, its message is important.
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