American identity

[Gary Ashwill]

With regard to recent remarks here about U.S. national identity, check out
Benjamin Schwarz's review in the Atlantic of "The Good Fight," a children's
book on WWII by the gravel-voiced Stephen Ambrose (every time I see him on
tv he's rasping on about the courage and sacrifices of brave men as they
dared to....etc, etc.).  Ambrose is a proponent of what you might call the
Hanks-Brokaw (or Lucas-Spielberg) theory of American exceptionalism ("We
beat the Nazis! We saved the world!  All by ourselves!").  Stalingrad,
schmalingrad.  Schwarz's review is pretty good.

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2001/06/schwarz.htm

Gary Ashwill