Stephen E. Ambrose (1936–2002)

Having lived in Clatsop County, Oregon, very near where L&C built their fort and spent the winter, I have some general knowledge of the expedition. But I learned a lot by reading this book. It did take me a while...it's not a page-turner, but it was consistently interesting. We sort of learned about the 'heroic' version in school, so the realities of Indians, syphilis, and Sacajawea being practically a child herself were eye-opening, as was Lewis's eventual death and possible mental illness show more (or was it substance abuse?). In any case, I think Ambrose made the most of his material, and wasn't too starry-eyed about his subject.

I do wonder why Lewis wasn't ever able to attract a wife. He certainly tried hard enough, and had plenty of looks and glory to recommend him, and a seemingly bright future, being a particular friend of President Jefferson. Maybe his behavior around women wasn't exemplary. Maybe there were clues to his later afflictions which put them off. But I do wonder.

I also wonder why he never published his journals. It seemed as if he had some sort of a mental block around them, for no discernible reason. I suppose we'll never know.

Five stars for this work, even though I don't expect to re-read it. Lots of interesting detail and history, a chapter of Americana that is justly celebrated but not without its flaws. Ambrose kept his commentary to a minimum, although he does have opinions about slavery and Clark's treatment of York, the only enslaved man on the expedition. He also calls Lewis out on his treatment of the Indians at various points, although it seems that Lewis was perhaps more enlightened than many of his countrymen at the time. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and all the complexities for what it meant for the those on the journey, those encountered on the journey and our conflicted modern sensibilities. At the time I finished it, I would have given it a 5-star rating. However, I have subsequently read some of his cited (or loosely cited) sources. It is common knowledge of that Ambrose has been accused and possibly admitted to plagiarism. While some of that can be debated from the academic nature on proper show more citation, etc., I still wanted to give a shout-out to James Ronda and his bringing the Native American perspective to forefront. Without him, this book wouldn't have been written. show less

Recently, I watched the series “Band of Brothers” and was surprised by its quality. The often-used introductory statements of the former members of the 101st were very impressive and lent the series a lot of credibility.

After having watched the final episode, I decided I wanted to read Ambrose’s book that served as the source material. Little did I know what awaited me…

While the series provided me with a consistent, logical stream of events, the book simply adds anecdote after show more anecdote. There’s hardly any reflection on those anecdotes either and if Ambrose tries to add his analysis, it’s sadly lacking, simple-minded and features lots of “Hooray patriotism” that’s part of what actually caused the war he narrates about.

At times, Ambrose tries to actually support his point of view by citing other works - unfortunately, they’re mostly of similarly questionable quality as his own book. In other cases, Ambrose references books that were written in the immediate aftermath of the war and, thus, still strongly subjectively influenced.

I for one, though, prefer a proper history book on World War II and not a collection of anecdotes. Especially the strong hero worship Ambrose resorts to all too often...

“The coordination with British artillery was outstanding. So was Winters.”

… truly annoys me: From what I’ve read about Richard Winters beyond the praise Ambrose never ceases to sing, Winters must have been a great man and soldier. So let his deeds speak for himself, i. e. Wikipedia calmly tells us that “Winters agreed for the statue to bear his resemblance on the condition that the monument would be dedicated to all junior officers who served and died during the Normandy landings.” when they erected a statue at Utah Beach.

The series itself actually shows the war as it must have been - grim, bloody, horrible. Whenever the former soldiers get to talk about their experiences, they often get teary-eyed whereas Ambrose belittles what they got through by making it look easier than it could have been. And, in fact, Ambrose stoops so low that he compares the weapon fire to Fourth of July fireworks:

“War provides more meat to satisfy that lust than any other human activity. The fireworks displays are far longer lasting, and far more sensational, than the most elaborate Fourth of July display.”

Wow, just wow. Please excuse me for a moment while I vomit.

Sometimes, Ambrose tries to get in some German quotes into his narrative. Unfortunately, these parts obviously got very little attention by him or his editors:

"Hinkle, Hinkle, ist das du"

To me, a German, this reads like a verbatim translation of “is that you?” whereas proper German would be “bist Du das?”. It’s a small issue but it’s just as annoying as the military abbreviations Ambrose liberally uses. Yes, after a few uses I can imagine “CP” stands for Command Post”, “OP” for “Outpost” or “ETO” for “European Theatre of Operations” but till I figured it out, it was confusing for no good reason.

And while Ambrose obviously is a fan of “Ike” Eisenhower, he’s not good enough to avoid belittling other famous commanders like Montgomery:

“Ike needed the 101st and 82d in the line. It was a question of timing. Eisenhower wanted to attack even before New Year’s Eve, but Monty, commanding the forces (all American) on the northern shoulder of the Bulge, stalled and shivered and made excuses, so it did not happen.”

A little xenophobia bordering on racism (another cause for the war) isn’t something Ambrose is much concerned with either:

“Had Reese been a Soviet, German, or Japanese soldier, this little nonincident probably would have turned out differently.”

(The “non-incident” he’s talking about is severe, continued sexual harassment of civilians, by the way.)

War crimes are talked about but there’s no criticism at all:

““You shoot him,” Moone replied. “The war is over.” Skinny Sisk stepped forward, leveled his M-1 at the fleeing man, and shot him dead.”

Pretty much the only decent thoughts expressed in “Band of Brothers” are, interestingly, those of Richard Winters again who remembers reaching a concentration camp:

“The memory of starved, dazed men,” Winters wrote, “who dropped their eyes and heads when we looked at them through the chain-link fence, in the same manner that a beaten, mistreated dog would cringe, leaves feelings that cannot be described and will never be forgotten. The impact of seeing those people behind that fence left me saying, only to myself, ‘Now I know why I am here!’ ”

I will definitely avoid Ambrose as an author from now on and stick to my history books.


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The Lewis and Clark expedition certainly wasn't the first of its kind for white settlers venturing out into the American West even though its significance in the telling of America's story makes it seem that way. Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose certainly helps cement the idea. And here you get the whole story so get comfortable. This is a long tale.

There's a reason you don't see too many Lewis and Clark Hollywood movies. Their journey lacks the requisite number of dramatic highs and show more lows that one expects from a "based on true events" story. And to be fair, there were many life and death moments going up the Missouri, over the Bitterroot Range, and down the Columbia, but overall, I would say it was stubborn persistence that carried the day. Their successful return came down to being a close-knit team, enforced military discipline and luck. Lots of luck. Though I'm sure during one of their long bouts of near starvation, especially while wintering on the Columbia, they wouldn't have thought themselves all that lucky. And one could speculate that they might not have made it at all without the lucky addition of the Lemhi Shoshone scout Sacagawea counted among their group. Her contributions were often the key to their continued survival even though at the time her presence was massively underappreciated.

The expedition is undoubtedly the legacy highlight of everyone involved, except for maybe Thomas Jefferson, but there's a dark coda to Lewis' part of the story, one that I wasn't familiar with at all. I won't go into the details but it colors the Americanized version of Lewis and Clark in a way that, in my opinion, makes the whole journey more real. More human. show less