Americans at War

by Stephen E. Ambrose

Overview

Collected here for the first time are fifteen essays that span over 100 years of American history—and the remarkable thirty-year career of America's foremost historian and New York Times bestselling author of D-Day, Undaunted Courage, and Citizen Soldiers.

Stephen E. Ambrose's vivid and compelling essays take you to the heart of America's wars, from Grant's stunning Fourth of July victory at Vicksburg, to Nixon's surprise Christmas bombing of Hanoi. Ambrose brings to life the ambition and charisma that led to Custer's great success in the Civil War and fateful disaster at Little Big Horn. With vivid imagery and precise commentary, he puts you on the beaches of Normandy with the common footsoldier and in the headquarters of America's great commanders, Eisenhower, Patton and MacArthur. He takes you to the trenches of the homefront,"ground zero"of the Atomic Bomb, and into the arsenals of the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425165102
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/01/1998
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	1170L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stephen E. Ambrose is Director Emeritus of the Eisenhower Center, retired Boyd Professor of History at the University of New Orleans, and president of the National D-Day Museum. He is the author of over twenty books including the bestsellers Undaunted Courage, Citizen Soldiers, and D-Day, multiple biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, and his compilation of 1,400 oral histories from American veterans.

Date of Birth:

January 10, 1936

Date of Death:

October 13, 2002

Place of Birth:

Whitewater, Wisconsin

Place of Death:

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Education:

B.A., University of Wisconsin; M.A., Louisiana State University, 1958; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1963

Table of Contents

Introduction

Struggle for Vicksburg: The Battles and Siege that Decided the Civil War
Custer's Civil War
"Just Dumb Luck": American Entry into World War II
SIGINT: Deception and the Liberation of Western Europe
D-Day Revisited
Victory in Europe: May 1945
The Atomic Bomb and Its Consequences
General MacArthur: A Profile
A Fateful Friendship: Eisenhower and Patton
The War on the Home Front
My Lai: Atrocities in Historical Perspective
The Christmas Bombing
Eisenhower and NATO
The Cold War in Perspective
War in the Twenty-First Century

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Fascinating...compelling."—The Indianapolis Star

"Ambrose has the great gift of making history come alive."—Anniston Star

Editorial Reviews

"Fascinating...compelling."—The Indianapolis Star

"Ambrose has the great gift of making history come alive."—Anniston Star

From the Publisher

The Barnes & Noble Review
This collection of essays from America's premier historian looks back at the American era spanning from Grant to Nixon.

'If I was ever in a desperate situation,' [Ambrose'] declares, 'I would want Meriwether Lewis for my leader.' When it comes to assaying American history, one could say the same for Stephen Ambrose.

Newsweek

A fascinating, insightful collection....Ambrose convinces you that you are a participant in history.

Houston Chronicle

A collection of essays about the leaders and the led in America's wars. Ambrose (history, University of New Orleans) looks at the accomplishments of leaders such as Custer, Eisenhower, Patton, and MacArthur. He also examines events such as the massacre at My Lai, the Christmas bombing of Hanoi in 1972, the first uses of the atomic bomb, and D-Day in their historical perspectives. Several of the essays have been published previously in various academic journals.

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