The most enjoyable book of his I have read was Pegasus Bridge, and when I finished, it struck me that the reason I enjoyed it so much in comparison was probably because there were no Americans involved for him to fawn over. He is an unabashed booster for the US Army. I don't know whether that is a confessional moment of self-awareness, or an ironic, unintended admission of bias, but I think it goes a long way in explaining Ambrose. I thought then that these guys were giants. It was there that I heard my first war stories. In addition, their rifles came from around the world-Czech, British, Russian, American, Japanese, French-and each man had a story about how he acquired his rifle. There was some drinking-not much, as we would get up at 4:00am (0400 to the ex-GIs, which mystified me), but enough to loosen their tongues. We slept in a small farmhouse, side by side in sleeping bags on the floor. Talking about the GI Vets who lived in his neighborhood:īeginning in 1947, when I was twelve, I was allowed to go with them. I think that this quote from the epilogue of Citizen Soldiers is an accurate self-description by Ambrose. Especially in regards to the American Army in WWII, he lacks even the pretense of objectivity, and is mostly just is unleashing his awestruck inner twelve year old (which is perhaps the audience best suited to his books.). Plagiarism accusations aside, Ambrose is just the worst kind of pop history. Previous AMAs | Previous Roundtables Featuresįeature posts are posted weekly. May 25th | Panel AMA with /r/AskBibleScholars Please Subscribe to our Google Calendar for Upcoming AMAs and Events To nominate someone else as a Quality Contributor, message the mods. Our flaired users have detailed knowledge of their historical specialty and a proven record of excellent contributions to /r/AskHistorians. Please Read and Understand the Rules Before Contributing. Report Comments That Break Reddiquette or the Subreddit Rules. Serious On-Topic Comments Only: No Jokes, Anecdotes, Clutter, or other Digressions. Provide Primary and Secondary Sources If Asked.
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