On plagiarism, redux

I’ve had plagiarism on my mind lately, so this news about historian Stephen Ambrose caught my eye.

Ambrose had a long history with the subject. Fortunately, he was called out shortly before he died in 2002 for his habit of repeating things that others had written without putting quotation marks around those things. That’s textbook plagiarism, but because Ambrose more often than not included footnotes that led readers back to the original sources of the words he had appropriated as his own, he did not receive much more than a slap on the wrist from the historical community or from his legions of readers. And lest you think that this problem only cropped up after Ambrose got famous and put together a factory that churned out book after book under his name, you should know that he plagiarized his dissertation and first book. I don’t doubt that a thorough review would show that he plagiarized everything in between, too.

It now appears that Ambrose’s fraud didn’t stop with plagiarism; not only did he appropriate others’ words, he flat out made shit up. And then based his entire, fabulously successful career on that shit he made up. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you own a book with Ambrose’s name on the cover, you should not trust a single word in it.

Maybe Tom Hanks can start making movies based on non-fiction books that contain only non-fiction.

Authors, Moral Outrage, Non-Fiction | Dr J | April 20, 2010 2:27 pm

6 Comments

By Len, April 20, 2010 @ 2:54 pm

I started to read “Citizen Soldiers” some years ago in an effort to gain some insight into my father’s experiences, but gave up after a few pages because the whole thing was obviously a crock written in the breathless style of a third-rate show on the History Channel.
By Tim, April 20, 2010 @ 10:13 pm

I, for one, am shocked. The next thing I know you’ll be making character assassinations of David Brinkley.
By Dr J, April 21, 2010 @ 9:55 am

DB was Ambrose’s protege.
By Sam, April 21, 2010 @ 10:22 am

You mean Douglas Brinkley? Last year that guy had one assignment from Vanity Fair to go sail on Johnny Depp’s 150 foot yacht in the Caribbean, and another assignment from Rolling Stone to interview Bob Dylan in Amsterdam. And they give those gigs to Stephen Ambrose’ protege? Speaking of the “Band of Brother’s” author, anybody watching “The Pacific” on HBO? It took me about 15 minutes of the first episode and never turn it back on. The background music alone makes it unwatchable. This whole Pop History Industry breeds plagiarism and cutting corners because it has to fit the formula. Ambrose’ concocted story about Eisenhower calling him out of the blue is a perfect example.
By Tim, April 21, 2010 @ 10:33 am

I did mean Douglas Brinkley. David Brinkley is journalisms elder statesman and OK in my book.
By Tim, April 21, 2010 @ 10:36 am

Favorite Douglas Brinkley story: in The Great Deluge he refers to Trent Lott as a former Louisiana Senator. This while living in New Orleans and teaching history at Tulane.