Rating: 
Summary: His Final Lecture - Read and Appreciate
Review: A summary of events and important people in American history from the beginning of our independence to the present century, Stephen E. Ambrose takes us on a journey of enlightenment from his perspective, allowing us to form our own opinions while eagerly reading his.Part autobiographical, he shares his personal history and the love and support from his wife and five children. They researched together, spent vacations in the west exploring the Lewis and Clark trail, and respected one another. How refreshing. As the title aptly reads, Personal Reflections of an Historian, the reader is captivated by his unique stories which include his long association with Dwight Eisenhower whom he reveres as the brightest and wisest leader of the past century; his part in establishing a World War II National D Day Museum in New Orleans; his encounter with a German officer; a thrilling description of the Battle of New Orleans; his research on Richard Nixon; the war in Vietnam, and many many more insightful
chapters on various subjects. Every chapter of this book for Americans is worthy of our reading time so that we too, can form our own opinions concerning each subject. It should be required reading as an overview of our country with its movers and shakers, heroes and villians, mistakes and progress, for all our leaders - the president included! I was impressed by the fact that this worthy historian is unashamed to admit his own bias in some cases and how he eventually changes his thinking as he makes new discoveries. He compares a number of presidents and their leadership, as well as taking us to the battlefields with America's brave fighting men. Thanks to this author and his numerous books, and to Tom Brokaw, we will not be allowed to forget the price paid by the veterans in all our wars. Wonderful stories, interesting reflections from a well-educated professor and historian, and a great book for a discussion group. Read and enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Not his greatest - I liked him less afterward
Review: As a reader of many of Stephen Ambrose's books I find it painful to speak negatively about his work in this one, however I would be less than honest to say this is a great book. Much of the first part of the book is taken up with historian Ambrose talking about historical figures he used to be more critical of, but now in his more enlighted stage of life he is willing to overlook their warts and see the good they did or at least tried to do. This type of thinking is common perhaps more common at the end of life when we try to place a more charitable spin on other's actions, but what a shame he felt not the need to soften and reasses his first wife's life and death by suicide. Instead he barely mentions her death and dismisses it by saying she was depressive. He shares his personal views, views in some cases markedly out of character with the men whose valor and principles he has become a household name writing about. I felt a vauge sense of disappointment that he was not cut out of the same cloth and was instead self-absorbed, disrespectful and callow. His facts are not always straight and his personal forthrightness highly questionable. He engages in Clintonian type non-denial-denials such as asserting I was not fired and then allowing although the univerisity let it be known they would be much happier if I would find other employment. Technically it is true, but when presented as a non-firing becomes a lie. When your employer tells you to leave you are fired even if the words are not used, and half truths are the very worst trait a historian can possess. I am sorry I read this book not because it is bad, indeed much is good and enlightening especiall the section on Nixion. No I am sorry I read it for what it told me about the writer. Sorry I like the author less. Most of all sorry he didn't quit while he was ahead.
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: 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: The Final Wonderful Piece of Ambrose's Great Legacy
Review: Readers know their authors primarily through their works. They can meet authors at book signings, hear them at lectures, or see them on C-SPAN 2 late at night talking to Brian Lamb. Unless we are very lucky, though, we do not often get to cross paths with the authors whose works we read and admire. We do not have the opportunity to know them outside of the printed page, to see what they do, or to know what they are thinking. One of the remarkable things about TO AMERICA, the final book by historian Stephen Ambrose, is that it opens a window on his career outside of his writings. Fans of Ambrose know, through his dust jackets if nothing else, that he was a longtime professor at the University of New Orleans. But few of those who read his great narratives on American history (THE WILD BLUE, CITIZEN SOLDIERS, UNDAUNTED COURAGE) had the chance to attend one of his lectures and hear him discuss the events about which he wrote so masterfully. TO AMERICA is as close as the reader will get to hearing Ambrose lecture about the topics he knows best. Ambrose's topics are well-chosen, timely and authoritative. The lectures primarily center on "admired Americans" --- leaders such as George Washington, Ulysses Grant and Dwight Eisenhower. But a few villains find their way into the book, notably Richard Nixon. The approach Ambrose uses in TO AMERICA is reflective and retrospective, looking at the overall legacy of his subjects. He often acknowledges that his conclusions about these men have changed over the course of time. For example, he tells us that he used to criticize Andrew Jackson roundly for his treatment of Native Americans, but has since come to the conclusion that Jackson's leadership in the Battle of New Orleans --- and the importance of that victory ---salvages his reputation as a great American. TO AMERICA is at least partially a critique of revisionist history, but Ambrose's primary mission is to tell good stories, particularly those that define and awaken the great American spirit. He accomplishes that last mission bravely. TO AMERICA is "a valediction forbidding mourning", a great final celebration of one of America's great narrative historians. It is a great tribute to America and the final piece of Ambrose's great legacy. Finally, fittingly, the last word of the last page of TO AMERICA is "future". --- Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
Rating:
Summary: A Fond Farewell That Came Too Soon
Review: Sadly, this was to be Stephen Ambrose's final book before his death from cancer. But it's a fitting conclusion to a career spent celebrating the peoples of the United States and their most noble accomplishments. This book is part memoir, part personal essay on some of the personages and themes that loomed largest in his work. In his opening chaper, "The "Founding Fathers," Ambrose reflects on the achievements and shortcomings of the men who led our revolution. It's as good a defense against the trend of political correctness and the error of viewing their 17th century world through our 21st century prisim as you're likely to find. In subsequent chapters, Ambrose celebrates the military genius of Andrew Jackson, grapples with white America's treatment of Native Americans and offers his perspectives on such multi-faceted characters as U.S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and Richard Nixon. We learn how Ambrose was drawn to a career in history and how his love for writing about "men of action" developed. Stephen Ambrose's work unabashedly celebrated the best of America, without turning a blind eyes to its faults. "To America" is a fond farewell from one of the era's most popular historians.--William C. Hall
Rating:
Summary: A Great Historian's Last Gift to the American People
Review: Stephen Ambrose knew how to write history that was accessible, gripping, solid, and pretty much on target.
He had planned to write a work similiar to "Band of Brothers" and "The Victors" about the Pacific War, when he was told he had terminal cancer. Like U.S. Grant, a man whom Ambrose had written much of and clearly respected, Ambrose faced death not just with courage - but fighting to the end as he wrote this historical love song to America.
In "To America", Ambrose writes movingly about himself, his family, why he chose to be a Historian,the great American Historians who were his mentors - Hesseltine and T. Harry Williams, how his M.A. thesis - the published biography of the Civil War General Henry Halleck prompted Dwight Eisenhower to call upon Ambrose to edit his papers. Ambrose also writes how he never wanted to write about Richard Nixon, but having done so, found himself respecting, if not liking that complex former President.
In "To America" Ambrose writes about our major events in a narrative that reads as if he were talking to the American people in their living rooms. He writes how:
- U.S. Grant meant to enforce Reconstruction and preserve the rights of Black Americans, but was unable to do so because the weary North no longer had the desire nor the will to confront a bitter South over Reconstruction policies 10 years after Appomattox.
- That there was no deliberate policy by the U.S. Government to wipe out the Indian tribes; but that a combination of factors, disease, inter-tribal conflict, even buffalo killing by Native Americans, as well as White lies, Manifest Destiny, and the Plains Wars marked the demise of the Indian grip on the territories of the West.
- He writes how he originally felt revulsion over the Atom Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, until he discovered how fully prepared Japan was to commit collective hari-kari over an American invasion of the home islands. He cites how one American officer, future NATO commander Andrew Goodpaster, in projecting American casualties, figured that 800,000 Americans would either be killed or wounded in an assault on Japan, and that Truman's decision to drop the bombs was not only a just one - but a necessary one that saved the lives of both Americans and Japanese.
- He writes of how he was educated to dislike Theodore Roosevelt as a blowhard and braggart - and then grew to admire him for both his domestic and foreign policies.
- And how he met and wrote about those "Bands of Brothers", whether they be the men from U.S. 101st Airborne who fought from the Normandy Drop Zones to Hitler's "Eagles Nest", Major John Howard, of the British 6th Airborne who secured "Pegasus Bridge" and of the German Panzer General Von Luck, who opposed Howard and the Red Berets at Pegasus Bridge yet became a firm friend of that gallant man of the Airborne after the war.
- He writes of how he grew to dislike and vocally oppose our Vietnam involvement yet how he also fully respected the American soldiers, sailors, and airmen who fought there.
Ambrose also wrote of how America, after 9/11 still remained the last best hope of mankind, and how this nation is a force for good, not evil. He wrote all this in a slim, readable volume that should be passed on from generation to generation. For it was not just Stephen Ambrose's lasting legacy - but a lasting legacy from a beloved historian to all Americans.
At 6.99 this book deserves an honored place in the libraries of all thoughtful Americans.
Rating:
Summary: America's Historian
Review: Stephen Ambrose was truly America's Historian for the second half of the 20th Century. This is a beautiful goodbye from a good friend who will be missed greatly. Treat yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Ramblings of a Patriotic Historian
Review: The subtitle of this final book by Stephen Ambrose tells it all - "Personal Reflections Of An Historian". This book is NOT a story or a historical perspective. It is the story of Stephen Ambrose and his perspective along with the major characters he wrote and about and feels a certain connection. Ambrose became famous by hitting the emotional and sentimental bulls eye of Americas retrospective look at World War II. He accomplished this by seeing the war from the perspective of the common soldier. However, Ambrose started as a historian writing about great historical leaders like Henry Halleck, Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon. This final book takes another look at Ambrose's life and the characters he met in his travels or his research. It does not shed new light on characters or tell a new story. It does tell the authors story. This is a great book if you enjoy talking to our more mature citizens. Ambrose was near the end of his life when he wrote this book and he knew it. This was his chance to, like Grant, record his actions and thoughts for posterity while providing for his family. In the end you see that Ambrose enjoyed a wonderful life by sharing his love of the past with his family and those great people that made history.
Rating:
Summary: A great final ending
Review: When I bought this book, I really had little expectation that I'd like it. It sat on the shelf for weeks, then I happened to pick it up and randomly selected the chapter on Nixon. What I found was a writing style that was unlike the author's previous books. What you'll find here is much like sitting down in your living room and having a great discussion with Ambrose about history in general. Generally, each chapter takes on a certain time period, event, or person- then he discusses some of his personal experiences and opinions about the subject. A few of the facts could be debated, as well as the smoothness and style of the writing- but nonetheless the book was captivating. There's no doubt in my mind that the author knew this was going to be his last book. I believe you'll find much interest in reading about how he did his research as well as his confessions about things that he used to teach or write that he knows now to be untrue. Pick up the book and read a chapter at a time. If you find one that you don't like, then skip to the next. When you finish the book, I believe that you'll agree that most-if not all- chapters were written in an honest and highly entertaining style.
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