Dimensions
156 x 235 x 20mm
Reflecting on his own vocation in his last bestseller, one of the country's most influential historians confronts the nation's failures and struggles, contemplates its moral and practical victories, and celebrates the men and women who have made it exceptional.
Completed shortly before Ambrose's untimely death last year, 'To America' is a very personal look at our nation's history through the eyes of one of the twentieth century's most influential historians. Taking swings at today's political correctness, as well as his own early biases, Ambrose grapples with the country's historic sins of racism, its ill treatment of Native Americans, and some of its tragic errors such as the war in Vietnam, which he ardently opposed.
He talks about some of the founders, such as Jefferson and Washington, who were progressive thinkers (while living a contradiction as slave-holders). He relates Andrew Jackson's stunning defeat of a superior British force with a ragtag army in the War of 1812. He describes Lewis and Clark's grueling journey across the wilderness, and the building of the railroad that joined the nation coast to coast.
Ambrose writes about the misunderstood presidency of Ulysses S Grant, the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt, and the victory of WWII. He considers women's and civil rights and inauguration, philanthropy and nation building. He contrasts the modern presidencies of Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, and Johnson. Most powerfully, in this final volume, Ambrose offers an accolade to the historian's calling.
