A Conversation with Stephen E. Ambrose, author of The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won
Q: When did you first become fascinated with World War II?
A: I was born in 1936, and some of my earliest memories are of the War-the patriotism, the sense of a unified purpose, and the sacrifices made by the veterans and their families all made a deep impression upon me. The war, in one way or another, was all around me as I grew up, and I guess I absorbed a certain amount of it, like so many other folks.
Q: You've written so many astonishing books for adults. How did you come to decide to write one for children?
A: It seems to me that the current generation of young people are very unaware of what their grandparents, and in some cases great-grandparents, gave up to ensure that all Americans could live in peace and freedom. They need to learn about the costs of the Second World War and not just the physical costs paid by the men doing the fighting. Close family members of Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, and Airmen also paid a price for peace and freedom as well, in the form of long separations and concerns about the safety of a husband, father, son, or brother-many of whom did not come back.
Q: How do you go about researching your books?
A: When I'm not writing, I'm doing reading related to it. I try to immerse myself in the subject as much as possible. I also have the aid of my son Hugh, who has been a great help with my last three book projects.
Q: What authors/books do you recall reading as a child?
A: I remember reading biographies on both Julius Caesar and George Washington early on in high school. The lives of both of these men made a great impression on me. Ever since, I have always been fascinated by a basic question: Why does a given historical figure do what he did, and how did he do it?
Q: Are you an avid reader?
A: As I said earlier, reading is something I do several hours a day, and it never ceases to be a source of delight and wonder to me.
Q: Is there one story from the war that has most moved you?
A: An event as colossal as the Second World War has no shortage of human drama, but I guess what moved me the most was hearing accounts from the American G.I.s who liberated the Nazi death camps across Europe in the closing days of the war. The true nature of what we were fighting against was revealed, and the gratitude that the prisoners showed the G.I.s still moves me deeply to this day.
Q: What do you hope children will come away with when they've finished reading The Good Fight?
A: How bravely their grandparents fought in the war, and the unselfish nature of their willingness to go to war to save citizens of nations other than their own. The liberation of Europe and the Marshall Plan that followed are the best examples of national unselfishness that I can think of. We did not have to fight Germany and Japan for our own survival-we did it because it was the right and decent thing to do.
Q: How does your writing involve you in working on motion pictures and series, such as the upcoming miniseries Band of Brothers?
A: Well, in the case of Saving Private Ryan, I was the historical consultant for the film. Mr. Spielberg and Mr. Hanks would ask me for information that would enhance the accuracy and authenticity of the movie. Many veterans have since told me that Saving Private Ryan was the closest thing to being there that they had experienced. I value the praise of our veterans more highly than just about anything else. I hope they will feel the same way about Band of Brothers when it is completed.
Q: Have you visited many of the battlefields you've written about?
A: Oh, yes. I've been to Normandy a number of times, and I also enjoy visiting Civil War battlefields, such as Gettysburg and Shiloh. I'm also planning on visiting the Pacific battlefields to aid in research for my next book, Citizen Soldiers of the Pacific, which will be about the battles of Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
Q: How do the events of World War II continue to affect society today?
A: The wonderful world that Americans live in-a world of peace, prosperity, and tolerance-are a direct result of the most important event of the twentieth century, WW II. We could not live in such a world without all that the veterans of this war have given to their country. Our security rests on the foundation that those who served in World War II built.
Q: What's your next project?
A: I'm working on a book on the Pacific, as I mentioned earlier, and the Band of Brothers project is also coming along nicely. I'm also assisting The National D-Day Museum with the opening of a Pacific Wing of their museum, scheduled for December 7, 2001-the sixtieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor. I have many other projects that I'm working on as well, but those come most readily to mind.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Contact: Tracy van Straaten 212/698-2809
This interview has been provided by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing and can be reprinted for publication either in full or excerpted as individual questions and answers, so long as they are reprinted in their entirety.
Added 2002
To stay up to date on new books by this author, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here.
If you're interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.