Band Of Brothers author accused of fabrication for Eisenhower biography [Stephen Ambrose]

The Observer ^ | 25 April 2010 | Paul Harris

[SkyPilot]

I never met him, although one of my colleagues from NO did, and found him very ambitious and self-absorbed.

I never met him either. My father's friend (and our old auto mechanic) was interviewed by Ambrose. He said his "stuff" was never incorporated into any of the books Ambrose wrote, but sent the veteran a letter thanking him for the interview, saying it helped shore up the "framework" of the book or something like that. Ambrose also gave the veteran a copy of Ambrose's book "Pegasus Bridge" for his trouble.

The veteran told my dad he thought Ambrose was earnest, but a bit two faced. I think your term "ambitious" best describes him.

I’ve known a LOT of historians from that generation who are/were very supportive of the WW II generation soldiers, romanticize D-Day, etc., but who otherwise were big-time libs. They never seem to connect the anti-freedom of Hitler with the corruption and decay and anti-freedom of Clinton and Obama.

My dad was a Korea vet, and Depression baby. He loved FDR, and still does today. He was a union man, and Democrat through and through all his life (and still is). Yet, he never made the connection either between Hitler, Stalin, and the Left of today.

It is sort of like holding up a mirror to someones face, and showing it to them. Instead of gazing directly at the image of their face, they look at the images in the background reflected behind the mirror, and refuse to look directly at their own visage.

[Daffynition]

There's an interesting discussion here.

Perhaps the carelessness was ego, or the pressure to produce, who knows? He'll certainly not be the first or last to bear these accusations.

Reminds me of the lyrics from Laurie Anderson's song "The Dream Before":

Hansel and Gretel are alive and well
And they're living in Berlin
She is a cocktail waitress
He had a part in a Fassbinder film
And they sit around at night now drinking schnapps and gin
And she says: Hansel, you're really bringing me down
And he says: Gretel, you can really be a bitch
He says: I've wasted my life on our stupid legend When my one and only love was the wicked witch. She said: What is history?
And he said: His story is an angel being blown backwards into the future
He said: History is a pile of debris
And the angel wants to go back and fix things
To repair the things that have been broken
But there is a storm blowing from Paradise
And the storm keeps blowing the angel backwards into the future
And this storm, this storm is called Progress

[Daffynition]

"It is sort of like holding up a mirror to someones face, and showing it to them. Instead of gazing directly at the image of their face, they look at the images in the background reflected behind the mirror, and refuse to look directly at their own visage."

Very Zen. I love it. ;D

[LS]

LOL. I do that with my belly all the time. Never seems to get bigger, even though my pants size does.

[BroJoeK]

"History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it.

— Winston Churchill"

Let's add these to our list of remarkable quotes:

"All history of the past, as one of our wits [Fontenelle] used to say, is only accepted fable." Voltaire - 1764

"History is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes." Voltaire - 1767

"History can be well written only in a free country." Voltaire to Frederick the Great - 1773

"History is indeed little more than the register of crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind." Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - 1776

"History in general only informs us of what bad government is." President Jefferson, 1807

"I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past." Jefferson to Adams, 1816

"To write history requires a whole life of observation, of inquiry, of labor and correction. Its materials are not to be found among the ruins of a decayed memory." Jefferson to Dr. Stuart - 1817

"History is a picture gallery where there are few originals and many copies." Alexis de Tochqueville - 1856

"Study history, study history. In history lie all the secrets of statecraft." Winston Churchill - 1953

And then we have these:

"It must always show greatness because in greatness, even when it intimidates, the eternal law is visible. Only a conscious awareness of great deeds is the prerequisite for an understanding of the broad context of historical events; the powerless and insignificant have no history." German Central Institute of Education guidelines -- 1938

Soviet historians must be impassioned militant Bolshevik propagandists...Soviet historians must march in the front ranks of the fighters against the bourgeois ideology of Anglo-American imperialism and its reactionary essence, to expose social reformism which falsifies and adapts history in the interests of its bosses, the imperialists." Voprosy Istorii - 1949

Not sure which is scariest.
I like Jefferson's attitude best.

[warchild9]

I’ve taken c**p from people on this forum for years when pointing out that Ambrose is a fraud and that most of his books are ghostwritten (he never touches pen to paper, but sells his name). Those of us who have studied actual history (meaning primary documents and talked to veterans—not just watched television) have always known this.

However, he writes about heeeeroeees, and so he cannot be wrong. People, wake up!

[mware]

I always thought that Cornelius Ryan did a wonderful job compiling the individual stories of soldiers for The Longest Day, and A Bridge Too Far.

[Daffynition]

I’m glad you have been vindicated. Often our gut feelings are the right ones. ;)

[Knitting A Conundrum]

I had him for a class once...made an A, too, but he had a teaching assistant write and grade the tests...

[warchild9]

Although he didn’t approach history in a traditional way, Ryan was a great historian, as far as I’m concerned. Using a narrative structure to relate history, as Band of Brothers was supposed to be, is acceptable in anyone’s book. Using a ghostwriter to make stuff up for oneself is really tacky—but sells books, if one’s name is already known.

[SunkenCiv]

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Daffynition. I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure there are FR topics from as far back as 2002 about Ambrose' borrowings. more here Citation Plagiarism? To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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[SunkenCiv]

Ooooh, everyone is going to love this one:
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/plagiarism/famous-examples-of-plagiarism.html

[SunkenCiv]

http://mediamythbusters.com/index.php?title=Plagiarism

[Pharmboy]

Historian. A broad-gauge gossip. —Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary (1881-1906)

[colorado tanker]

I like Ike.

[colorado tanker]

pointing out that Ambrose is a fraud and that most of his books are ghostwritten

I've been a big Ambrose fan, but from what I've seen posted here you've got some vindication.

[Richard Kimball]

Bump for later.

[Daffynition]

Is this a democratic infliction?

[warchild9]

Sorry this reply is late...

We in the professional historical world have known he was a fake for years. He was originally quite a respectable historian, but the world of publishing is corrupted, and corrupting. Selling one’s name for BIG BUCKS is very common (see Tom Clancy, who hasn’t written a book since Red October, but continues to pull in millions from ghostwritten product).

Still, let’s note it’s not impossible to use the narrative as a means of recounting history. Shelby Foote comes to mind as one of the best.

[colorado tanker]

Big Bucks can do strange things to people's character, for sure.

I haven't heard any complaints about Band of Brothers. I suppose Ambrose knew Dick Winters was watching so closely everything had to be right.