TITLE: To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It met my reading challenge criteria being by an author I thought I had started reading, but had not. But have wanted to.
REVIEW: This is not a book about historical events or people, but about the idea of history, of being an historian. Not that he doesn't talk about some of the facts/ideas he has learned. He talked about having to not espouse opinion, but he does that a lot in this book. I am not sure if it was the reading but this book which is first person, and thus you are supposed to get Ambrose's voice, he did not come across well. Loud, arrogant and pushy. I will have to listen to one of the books he wrote solely about others to get an idea of his style. He seems very optimistic about America despite its failings. I wonder what he would say now with Trump in the White House.

Another good book by Mr. Ambrose. Added more books to my to-read list.

The first thing that I picked up on fairly quickly at least as far as this book is concerned and Ambrose’s definition of a historian was that he lacked the objective mind of a true historian. He seemed to want to put a liberal spin on almost everything, except his twisted ideology about women and their place in society. He sounded like the typical male chauvinist of the 1950s. I do not believe he ever relinquished the attitude towards women.
The style was not the atypical moroseness of the typical historian as he spoke with vivacity. That was one of the good points of the book. He was emotionally charged with the subjects and very opinionated to a fault. The succession of faults is what truly characterizes an writer or person. Although detestable at times is truly a welcome diversion of thought.
He discussed in length his years writing the memoirs of Eisenhower and Nixon. Expressed his distaste for Nixon in terms that I could not image how he could have written a fair biography of Nixon without the taint of his hatred for the man. Ambrose came across to me as a pompous bigot that could not remotely see both sides of history because of his lack of understanding of both sides. I never under-mind good work because of lack of empathy from the author. Perceptions from men like Ambrose truly express the vileness of the social structures from the past in their own unique definition of the world that they inhabited. As Ambrose said about Nixon, he couldn’t detest the man because of the good that was embodied in him but he couldn’t admire him for the bad choices that he made. Ambrose is the same to me. There is lots of good inwoven in detestable traits. But unlike Nixon, I think we’d have been much better off historically if Ambrose and his rouge ideology had faded into obscurity without anyone knowing his name. I personally would not recommend his book or books to anyone regardless of the fact that I gave it four stars. I would only say it was interesting and read at your own pleasure if seeking incoherent babble that is based on Ambrose’s twisted concept of reality. The truly sad part of the book is that Ambrose thinks he’s being fair and objective.

For fans of the late historian (Ambrose died in 2002) this book is something of a treat as it tells how he became an historian (he was a pre-med student initially), how he got into the writing game, and the stories behind all the books he had written. Throughout the book there is always a theme of transition and progression, not just in the sense of America as a nation, but in Ambrose as a scholar, writer, man and citizen; as he studies the history of the nation and its peoples, he progresses from what everyone knows about history, to what he was taught about history, to what he learned about history. For example, everyone knows how the west was won, and he was taught by his professors how America stole from the Indians and tried to exterminate them, but he learned that the Americans of the time did nothing more or worse than what the Indians did themselves, though he does find much to criticize about the way in which America was unable to rise above the passions of their age and live up to the ideals we embodied in our own founding documents, a dichotomy which continues to this day.

Throughout the book he portrays himself as liberal (though he was stung by Nixon's criticism that he was "just another liberal") and left-leaning, but he more bases that on his pacifistic stance during the Vietnam War, and yet as I read of his optimism and patriotism, I thought he perhaps might not be as liberal as he thought. Being adverse to war does not make a person liberal, just sensible, and many of the many of the most ardent opponents to war (as opposed to being "anti-war") have been military men, for they are the only ones who truly know, as Sherman pointed out, that war is hell. Though a self-defined "dove," he nevertheless consistently praises the abilities and morality of the American fighting man, even during the War in the Pacific, in which America's racism matched that of their Japanese opponents; the extreme enmity in that theater, however, was set aside (at least by the Americans; Japan has yet to admit, much less come to terms with its own aggression and racism) when MacArthur ruled Japan and set the stage for the emergence of a free and democratic Japan. MacArthur's enlightened rule of Japan echoes the command Eisenhower (Ambrose's favorite subjuct and his pick for American of the Century) held in Germany, with him instructing the German press corps that they were to be agents of the truth, not stooges of the government, that they should even criticize him in the press. Like Japan, Germany is the democratic bastion it is today because they were defeated by America, not conquered by the USSR.

Ambrose brings an even hand to history, criticizing America's mis-steps, and yet doing so without condemnation. He attributes much of that to his association with former President Eisenhower, who he interviewed weekly (or more) for his multi-volume biographies and other books about WW2. Without that association, he feared, he might have gone the way of other liberals of his time, spiraling into an abyss where America became an evil empire guilty of heinous crimes and responsible for all the ills of the world. It was impossible, he write, to know Eisenhower and not learn to honor and respect the country. In assessing America's unique nature upon the world stage, Ambrose points out three major triumphs for America:

*the creation of our democratic republic in the 18th Century
*the abolition of slavery and the holding together of our Union in the 19th Century
*the crushing of totalitarianism in the 20th Century

Unfortunately, having no crystal ball, and living only long enough to glimpse the rise of the world's greatest enemy of freedom and human rights, he was unable to predict what America's greatest triumph, or failure, would be in our fourth, and perhaps final, century. And yet, he felt, there might be some hope for the future; because of our accomplishments in bringing freedom and democracy to the oppressed peoples of the world, he wrote, "we have made the world a better place and will continue to do so."

While this book will appeal to the history buff, especially someone vitally concerned with the events and personalities of the Second World War (though Ambrose makes an argument that it was The Great War, Part 2), and is certainly required reading for any of Ambrose's many fans, it is also fascinating to anyone interested in America's history, or to the process of studying and making sense of history. Two things I took away from this book are that history is the study of people, their decisions and the consequences of those decisions, and that we are all, even now, writing the history of the future, that the consequences of our decisions will either redeem us or damn us, even though we will not live to receive either calumny or praise.

I truly enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading the rest of Stephan Ambrose’s books. He is one of the best authors I have ever read. I just read tonight that he died in 2002. That is so sad and such a great loss for America

Basically Stephen Ambrose gives a few thoughts on some moments in American History. Much less a history book then a Ambrose's opinions and reflections.

With such masterpieces as "Undaunted Courage", "Band of Brothers" and "D-Day", it is difficult to write a negative review of Stephen Ambrose's epitaph contemplation "To America: Personal Reflections of An Historian". Ambrose applies 21st century thought to 18th century events, a sin by any historian's standards. Within the first 5 pages, Ambrose stoops to discounting Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, as a "racist", a "bigot" and an "intellectual coward" (how can any historian discount the structure of slavery in 18th century aristocracy or the fact that Jefferson's prominence was a result of it? - albeit a horrific scar on American history). Although the other end of the spectrum is represented, such overpowering treatment continues throughout the book.
One bright spot in the book is the objective treatment of Richard Nixon, although the subject is not susceptible to Ambrose's disappointing jabs. It is important for the reader to take this book with a teaspoon of salt, the tag-line title must be considered, that this is Ambrose's "personal reflection". His decision to keep his own opinion at bay in his previous work was a wise one as Ambrose seems more determined to end his legacy as a controversialist (evidenced by his frequent recounting of his own protest attendance) than an objective voice of history.

I would advise potential readers to the leave "To America" on the shelf and read, and re-read, Ambrose's 25 other published treasures.

I enjoyed sections of this book, particularly those about the early history of America and Washington, Jefferson, Grant and Teddy Roosevelt. I was less interested in the author's personal history, although it was worthwhile to learn of his thought processes and hard work involved with writing a history and interpreting an event in American history. I know Ambrose is accused of plagiarism and errors in some of his books, but in these reflections on his entire career he is straight forward in admitting when he was wrong about certain events, persons or issues. I give him credit for that. Whatever his academic stature might be, I know I enjoyed and was educated by many of his books, and I am far from alone.

I read this on a whim, not realizing how incredibly timely the subject matter is. While I don't agree with Ambrose on everything, I did feel his discussions in this book are important - to boil down complex times and people into a singular position is, at best, misguided. America's history is a troubled one, and we shouldn’t shy from that. But our ability to recognize that trouble in the first place and ultimately find solutions is largely built on the framework that our history is built on. Don't sugarcoat history, nor throw the baby out with the bath-water.

Stephen E. Ambrose was one of the greatest historians and authors of our time. He is most known for his books "D-Day June 6, 1944" and "Band of Brothers" (that was latter made into the classic HBO series.) However, he authored over 20 other books that ranges across the history of the United States.

This book was released a month after the authors death and Mr. Ambrose takes the time to tell "his story" and the background behind all his books. Which makes this basically a greatest hits of history. Each chapter is a small history lesson of its own and covers the following topics.

The Founding Fathers (Thomas Jefferson)
The Battle of New Orleans (Andrew Jackson)
The Indian Country
The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad
Ulysses S. Grant and Reconstruction
Theodore Roosevelt and the American Century
Dwight D. Eisenhower and the War in Europe
The War in the Pacific
The Legacy of World War II
The Vietnam War
Writing about America (Personal History)
Crazy Horse, Custer, and the Pegasus Bridge
Writing about Richard Nixon
Men in Action (1992- 2001)
The National D-Day Museum
American Racism
Women's Rights and Immigration
United States and Nation Building

Okay, I am aware that I give every book 5 stars. If it doesn’t deserve 5 stars its not worth my time to finish it! I was pleasantly surprised by “To America”. It is almost 20 years old, and I totally expected to disagree with everything Stephen Ambrose presented in this book. Not so! Prof Ambrose looks beyond the obvious and honestly shares the ways that his opinions changed over the years. He challenges me to look at historical subjects from a different angle. We lost a great scholar when he passed shortly after completing this book. I would’ve loved to know his observations of events in 2021. He died before Obama was in office, before Trump started bellowing, before the 21st century pandemic - what would he say about all of that? I am almost tempted to read his other books - except that they are epic in size!

Wasn't really sure what to expect but when I saw the $3 price tag and Stephen E. Ambrose, I thought it was definitely worth the punt. Much, much better than I had anticipated ... it is, as the title suggests, a personal reflection (and sadly something of a farewell address) but given his wide range of work, a fairly engrossing read. Fairly familiar with his work in and around World War II but now inspired to read more about the Transcontinental Railroad.