Stephen Ambrose

Stephen Ambrose, A.K.A. “Farm Boy”, wasn’t always an author and even in his peak only did it in his free time, yet he is considered the best historical author of the 20th century by many.

Growing up on a farm in Wisconsin, Ambrose was hardly ever exposed to books or other literature. He was home-schooled until he was 16 and finally had the chance to attend the University of Wisconsin when he was 17. While there, he earned his bachelors degree, but most importantly met William Hesseltine. After taking a course titled Representative Americans with him, Ambrose said that he was changed for life. Professor Hesseltine taught him everything from how not to use adverbs to avoiding the use of chronology. The two became great friends and kept in touch for years after Ambrose graduated. Now having his bachelor’s degree in hand, Ambrose moved to Louisiana to e

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This is what he would do for the next 35 years at schools around the country and even many in Europe. arn his Masters degree at Louisiana State University. He liked the history surrounding Lewis and Clark so much that he made sure that him and his family spent July 4, 1976 and 4 months before that on the trail. Some of Ambrose’s other notable works include D-Day June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II, Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy To Hitler's Eagle Nest, and Americans at War. Ambrose’s first book, a biography of General Henry Halleck immediately caught the attention of President Dwight Eisenhower after being published. He was always intrigued by their journeys and read their journals religiously. Immediately after receiving that, he became a full time college professor. ”

One of Ambrose’s favorite topics for writing was the Lewis and Clark expedition. It spent 57 straight weeks on the New York Times best seller list and was so well received that the number of visitors along the trail increased by 15% the year after it was published. While there, he studied under Harry Williams, who also taught him values of writing. Inevitably he wrote a book about it titled “Undaunted Courage”. All of these books sold over a million copies and are considered to be the best and most detailed books of their genre.

Approximate Word count = 597
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

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