Stephen Ambrose, well known historian and best-selling author, died early Sunday morning in St. Louis, Mich.
Ambrose was diagnosed with lung cancer in April of this year. After his cancer diagnosis, Ambrose started working on an autobiographical book, with the working title \A Love Song to America.""
A 1957 graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Ambrose was a starting linebacker for the Badgers from 1954 to 1956, and remained connected to the University, returning for his Ph.D. in history in 1963. He also taught a course on World War II as well as a biographical history course at UW-Madison in 1997.
""D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II,"" helped Ambrose achieve significant commercial success. His ability to interest America once again in U.S. history was well respected in the academic community.
""Ambrose bridged the gap between academic and popular history. ... His signature was the ability to write political and military history in a way that reached a larger audience,"" said James Baughman, UW-Madison professor of journalism and mass communication. Ambrose's work also crossed over into visual mediums, such as film and television. He worked closely with Steven's Spielberg on a number of films, most notably ""Saving Private Ryan.""
""Through his book and through visual means, Ambrose was able to reach a large audience and tell a dramatic story,"" said Sergeant Bush, professor of English at UW-Madison. Ambrose took a different approach to the topics he worked on, often relying on first hand accounts of events. For example, he interviewed a number of historians for his World War II books and collected an oral history this way.
""He really connected with the veterans and established a bond with them and with their children,"" said John Cooper, UW-Madison professor of history.
Aside from his textual work on D-Day, Ambrose also established the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, and wrote books on many subjects of American history. Some of his most famous include books on Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon and The Transcontinental Railroad.
Ambrose grew up in Whitewater, Wis., and was a history professor for many years before breaking onto the best seller list. Cooper described him as being very much from the left on political issues and said that his ability to ""write against his grain"" made his work more valuable. Ambrose wrote about such conservative presidents as Nixon but treated them sensitively and really tried to understand them, added Cooper.
In recent years, Ambrose was criticized and accused of plagiarism in several books. However, Ambrose defended his work, citing sloppy editing.
""He did get sloppy. ... There were times when he was and times when he wasn't, but more often than not he was rigorous about his research,"" Cooper said.
