NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Stephen Ambrose

Stephen Edward Ambrose (January 10, 1936 – October 13, 2002) was an American historian and biographer of U.S. Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon. He received his Ph.D. in 1960 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Picture of Stephen Ambrose Source: http://www. ... Picture of Stephen Ambrose Source: http://www. ... For the 1968 science-fiction film and novel, see 2001: A Space Odyssey The year 2001 in film involved some significant events. ... Band of Brothers is an acclaimed 10-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. ... is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 286th day of the year (287th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... This article is about the occupation of studying history. ... This article needs cleanup. ... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890–March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 â€“ April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ... University of Wisconsin redirects here. ...

Biography

Ambrose was born in Lovington, Illinois, and reared in Whitewater, Wisconsin, having graduated from Whitewater High School. His family also owned a farm in Lovington, Illinois. Lovington is a village located in Moultrie County, Illinois. ... Whitewater is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located mostly in Walworth County and partly in Jefferson County. ... Lovington is a village located in Moultrie County, Illinois. ...

Ambrose served as a professor of history at several universities from 1960 until his retirement in 1995, having spent the bulk of his time at the University of New Orleans. For the academic year 1969-70, he was Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History at the Naval War College. In 1970, he was driven from his position at Kansas State University in Manhattan after having heckled President Nixon during a speech that the president gave on the KSU campus. He also taught at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. This article is about the study of the past in human terms. ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... The University of New Orleans, often locally called UNO, is a medium sized public urban university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... In May 1948, the President of the Naval War College Admiral Raymond Spruance recommended a plan to establish a civilian professorship of maritime history at the Naval War College. ... The Naval War College. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kansas State University, officially called Kansas State University of Fashion and Design [2] but commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States. ... Riley County Courthouse, Manhattan Manhattan is a town located in northeastern Kansas at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. ... For other uses, see LSU. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. ... Capitol Building Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana, a state of the United States of America. ...

Early in his career, Ambrose was mentored by World War II historian Forrest Pogue. He was the author of several bestselling books about the war, including D-Day, Citizen Soldiers and The Victors. Other major books include Undaunted Courage, about Lewis and Clark, and Nothing Like It in the World, about the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. He was the founder of the Eisenhower Center and President of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was the military adviser on the movie Saving Private Ryan and was an executive producer on the television mini-series that was based on his book, Band of Brothers.. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Forrest C. Pogue (1912 – 1996) was an official US Army historian during World War II. He was a proponet of oral history techniques, and collected many oral histories from the war. ... Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beachs to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany to Citizen Soldiers is a non-fiction novel about World War II written by Stephen E. Ambrose and published in 1998. ... Undaunted Courage, written by Stephen E. Ambrose is a biography of Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark. ... Lewis and Clark redirects here. ... Poster announcing railroads opening The First Transcontinental Railroad was a transcontinental railroad in North America that was finished in 1869. ... The Eisenhower Presidential Center includes the Eisenhower presidential library, President Dwight David Eisenhowers boyhood home, Museum, and gravesite. ... The National World War II Museum, formerly known as the National D-Day Museum, is a museum located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the corner of Andrew Higgins and Magazine Street. ... NOLA redirects here. ... Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 Academy-Award-winning film set in World War II, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. ... Band of Brothers is an acclaimed 10-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. ... Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitlers Eagles Nest is a factual account by historian Stephen Ambrose of the exploits of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army during their training and the latter days of World...

Eisenhower chose Ambrose as his biographer after admiring his work on Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff, which was based on his doctoral dissertation. The resulting Eisenhower biographies were generally enthusiastic, but contained many criticisms of the former commander in chief. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Ambrose also wrote a highly regarded three-volume biography of Richard Nixon, also generally positive, but his Band of Brothers (1993) and D-Day (1994), about the lives and fates of individual soldiers in the World War II invasion, catapulted him out of the ranks of academic history and into mainstream American culture. The mini-series 'Band of Brothers' (2001) lionized American troops and helped sustain the fresh interest in WWII that was stimulated by the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994, and the 60th anniversary of D-Day in 2004. Band of Brothers is an acclaimed 10-part television World War II miniseries based on the book of the same title written by historian and biographer Stephen Ambrose. ... See also: 1992 in literature, other events of 1993, 1994 in literature, list of years in literature. ... See also: 1993 in literature, other events of 1994, 1995 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Land on Normandy In military parlance, D-Day is a term often used to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. ...

Interestingly, Ambrose has received criticism from American veterans. Veterans of troop carrier units that transported paratroopers in the American airborne landings in Normandy have severely criticized Ambrose for portraying them as unqualified and craven in several of his works, including Band of Brothers and D-Day, and for characterizing them as "cranks" when they asked that he change the passages.^[1] Mark Bando, a published historian of the 101st Airborne in World War II, maintains a Web site ("Trigger Time") that while often praising Ambrose, also notes numerous discrepancies and some apparent fabrications, many of which have disturbed other veterans of the 101st. The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders Matthew B. Ridgway Maxwell D. Taylor Erich Marcks Wilhelm Falley Strength (airlifted) 13,100 paratroops 3,900 glider troops 5,700 USAAF aircrew 36,600 (7. ...

It is said that Ambrose organized his entire family into a sort of "history factory" and began turning out popular books of history like The Wild Blue. In 2002, Ambrose was accused of plagiarizing several passages which he footnoted but did not enclose in the customary quotation marks.^[2] The Wild Blue, by historian Steven Ambrose, was published in 2001. ...

Ambrose also appeared as a historian in the landmark television history of World War II, The World at War. The World at War is a 26-episode television documentary series on World War II, including the events leading up to it and following in its wake. ...

In 1995, Ambrose urged that retired General Colin Powell seek the presidency. The historian said that he would back Powell on either major party ticket.^{[citation needed]} Powell declined to seek the presidency. Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... General Colin Luther Powell, United States Army (Ret. ...

In 2002, Ambrose was posthumously awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Medal for Distinguished Public Service from the Theodore Roosevelt Association.^{[citation needed]} The Theodore Roosevelt Association, (TRA) is an historical and cultural organization based in Oyster Bay, New York, open to the general public. ...

Ambrose, a longtime smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer in April 2002. The condition deteriorated rapidly, and six months after the diagnosis he died at the age of 66, leaving behind his wife Moira and children Andy, Barry and Hugh, Grace and Stephenie. This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ...

Plagiarism and inaccuracies

In 2002, Ambrose was found to have plagiarized several passages in his book The Wild Blue. Fred Barnes in The Weekly Standard reported that Ambrose had taken passages from Wings of Morning: The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II, by Thomas Childers. Ambrose and his publisher, Simon and Schuster, released an apology as a result. Ambrose had only footnoted sources and did not enclose in direct quotes significant passages taken from Childers' book.^[3]^[2] Fred Barnes may be: Fred Barnes (1885-1938) was an English music hall artist. ... The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative [1] magazine published 48 times per year. ... Jean-François Millet Le Semeur (The Sower) Simon & Schuster logo, circa 1961. ...

While Ambrose downplayed the incident, stating that only a few sentences in all of his numerous books were the work of other authors, Forbes' investigation of his work found similar cases of plagiarism involving entire passages in at least six books and found a similar pattern of plagiarism going all the way back to his doctoral thesis.^[4] This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

He offered this defense to the New York Times: The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

The "History News Network" web site of George Mason University, however, in a web article entitled "How the Ambrose story developed", detailed seven of Ambrose works that had plagiarized at least 12 authors.^[3] George Mason University, also known as GMU or simply Mason, is a public university in the United States. ...

Ambrose was also criticized by other historians and media critics for inaccuracies in his writings and for shoddy or missing research, particularly as it contributed to the perception of him as a writer of "popular" or "best-seller history". Among the criticism was that by California railroad historians for errors in Nothing Like it in the World. Reported by Matthew Barrows in the January 1, 2001, edition of The Sacramento Bee, they listed some 50 text pages and six photo captions in which Ambrose "erred, misstated the facts or used quotes that cannot be substantiated with facts". According to Barrows, Ambrose cited his son Hugh as the primary research assistant for the book and chose not to respond. On January 11, 2001, Lloyd Grove, in The Washington Post column "The Reliable Source," reported that a co-worker found a "serious historical error" in the same book and that "a chastened Ambrose" promised to correct the error in new editions.^[5] This article is about the U.S. state. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Lloyd Grove (born 1965) is a gossip columnist for New York Daily News. ... The Washington Post is the largest newspaper in Washington, D.C.. It is also one of the citys oldest papers, having been founded in 1877. ...

Ambrose also became the target of controversy in 1995 from U.S. Army Air Forces veterans who objected to his characterization of C-47 pilots as untrained and incompetent in the Normandy invasion. A letter-writing campaign noted that Ambrose did not interview a single troop carrier pilot among the 1,642 participating in Operation Neptune nor consult official records, relying instead only on anecdotes of some paratroopers critical of the jumps. It also accused him of "reneging" on promises to correct the record before his death.^[1] The United States Army Air Forces, or USAAF, was a part of the U.S. military during World War II. The direct precursor to the U.S. Air Force, the USAAF formally existed between 1941 and 1947. ... Operation Neptune refers to the landing phase of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. ...

A similar controversy ensued when Ambrose, apparently drawing only from a writing by S.L.A. Marshall, implied cowardice by a British coxswain of a landing craft during the landings at Omaha Beach. In addition to the imputation, the article gave further weight to the argument that Ambrose had a pattern of drawing his conclusions from those of other authors.^[1] Samuel Lyman Atwood Slam Marshall (July 18, 1900 â€“ December 17, 1977) was a chief U.S. Army combat historian during World War II and the Korean War. ... The coxswain (pronounced cox-É™n; often called the cox) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders Omar Bradley, Norman Cota, Clarence R. Huebner Dietrich Kraiss Strength 43,250 Unknown Casualties 3,000 1,200 Omaha Beach was the code name for one of the principal landing points of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June...

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Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | 1936 births | 2002 deaths | Military historians | American historians | Historians of the American West | Historians of the United States | American military writers | People from New Orleans | Wisconsin writers | Illinois writers | Lung cancer deaths | University of Wisconsin-Madison alumni | People from Decatur, Illinois | Naval War College faculty | Louisiana State University faculty | People from Helena, Montana | Dwight D. Eisenhower For other uses, see The Independent (disambiguation). ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... WorldCat is the worlds largest bibliographic database, the merged catalogs of over 50,000 OCLC member libraries in over 90 countries. ...

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Plagiarism and inaccuracies

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