Faculty Book Review--November 2002
Stephen Ambrose’s
To America:
Personal
Reflections of an Historian
By
Marcus Chioffi
"We are part
of a country that outshines those that have gone before us "
--Stephen Ambrose
When Mr. Booth asked me to write this month’s History book review, I wanted to choose a book that would appeal to the largest audience. Stephen Ambrose’s latest work, To America, fits the bill. As one of the leading historical authors today, Mr. Ambrose uses his gift of weaving the past into engaging stories while providing the reader with little known facts as well as an appreciation for the overall picture. In this work he embarks on a patriotic march through United States history. He uses this platform not only to share the facts of our nation’s history, but also shares his own varied perspective as an historian, author, biographer, professor, husband, father, son and patriot. Mr. Ambrose keys in on four major themes throughout this work, emphasizing what he knows, how he conveys it in the classroom and in his books, who he is and what all of this information tells us about ourselves as Americans.
Mr. Ambrose begins by emphasizing the importance of storytelling to historians and professors. He illustrates his strength in this area by boiling down many of the complex histories of some of the early Americans. He speaks of the great vision of Jefferson, the leadership of Washington, as well as their inability or unwillingness to confront the ills of slavery and the historical inequality between the sexes. His training as a military historian is clear as he continues on to New Orleans in 1815. He chronicles the bravery of Jackson and his diverse group of “citizen soldiers” who pulled together as Americans to defeat the British who were “perhaps some of the finest troops in the world” (16).
He devotes the next three chapters to various personalities, events and consequences of World War II for America, Americans and the American Spirit. He expands on his relationship with and admiration for Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces including the D-Day invasion in 1944 as well as the 34th President of the United States. President Eisenhower gave a young Stephen Ambrose his biggest professional break when the former President contacted Ambrose, a 28 year-old professor, to help organize his memoirs and write his biography. This experience shifted much of Mr. Ambrose’s focus as an historian to the events and people of World War II.
Once again using his formula of injecting a bit of humility after a scene of national hubris, he shifts his discussion to the events and effects of the Vietnam War on the American psyche. He makes no bones about his disdain for and protest of the war and provides some insight into his thoughts and actions during this period. It is during this chapter that the tone of the book shifts again, further towards his own personal experience and reflection as an historian, author and American.
As he continues, he shares some of the techniques that he has learned as a writer over his career as both an historian and author. Although most of this discussion is quite useful, he also uses this opportunity to inform the reader about some of his other works. This portion is a bit of an advertisement for “Ambrose’s Greatest Hits.” As a history teacher, I was also a bit disappointed that in this section he only chose to make a single backhanded reference, the only one in the book, to his alleged plagiarism in The Wild Blue.
The book draws to a close with Mr. Ambrose making generalizations about racism and sexism in America. Although most of the history in these chapters is informative there are points in which his generalizations are a bit too optimistic and self-congratulatory about how far we as a nation have come on these issues.
Towards the end of his book, Mr. Ambrose provides a wonderful self-definition in which there are many universal truths for all of us at Brunswick School and as Americans that we can take to heart.
The American Spirit. By no means are we as a people all that special, or all-embracing, but we are part of a country that outshines those that have gone before us and most of those in existence today. I realize that sounds like some politician talking. I am no politician. I am an historian who has learned through a lifetime of studying that nothing in the world beats universal education, women’s rights, freedom of religion, democracy, an openness to all ethnic groups, the will to admit that terrible mistakes have been made -slavery, imperialism, segregation- and a determination to correct those mistakes (234).
Overall, Ambrose’s To America provides a glimpse into some of the events, some proud, others painful, that have shaped the course of this country as well as some insight into how historians pursue their craft. It is through his ability to sculpt stories and present an honest picture of whom we have been as a nation that provides promise for whom we can become.