Stephen E. Ambrose First Editions

• Halleck: Lincoln's Chief of Staff — 1962 · Louisiana State University PressLSU Press first printing, Baton Rouge, 1962, collating to 226 pp., in a dust jacket bearing the printed price, with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page. Ambrose's first book; it led directly to Dwight Eisenhower asking Ambrose to write his biography. US true first is the LSU Press 1962 edition; a scarce academic first. No book-club edition was issued.
• Upton and the Army — 1964 · Louisiana State University PressLouisiana State University Press first printing, Baton Rouge, 1964; xvi + 190 pages, illustrated, in publisher's cloth with the spine lettered in gilt, issued in a dust jacket bearing the printed price. Ambrose's study of Emory Upton was among his earliest books; as a mid-century academic-press imprint it carries no printer's number line, so a first printing is identified by the 1964 Baton Rouge imprint and…. US true first is the LSU Press 1964 edition. A later LSU Press paperback reissue (ISBN 9780807118504) is a separate, much later state and does not precede the 1964 hardcover. No book-club edition was issued.
• Duty, Honor, Country: A History of West Point — 1966 · The Johns Hopkins PressThe Johns Hopkins Press first printing, Baltimore, 1966, in a dust jacket bearing the printed price, with no statement of a later printing on the copyright page. Includes the original foreword by Dwight D. Eisenhower. US true first is the Johns Hopkins Press 1966 edition. No book-club edition was issued.
• Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945: The Decision to Halt at the Elbe — 1967 · W. W. NortonW. W. Norton first printing, New York, 1967, 119 pages, part of the Norton Essays in American History series, with a full number line on the copyright page and a dust jacket bearing the printed price. US true first is the Norton 1967 edition. No book-club edition was issued.
• The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower — 1970 · DoubledayDoubleday first printing, Garden City, New York, 1970, 732 pages, issued in tan cloth in a dust jacket bearing the printed price. The copyright page reads 'First Edition' with no later-printing statement. US true first is the Doubleday 1970 edition. Book club printings can carry the same 'First Edition' wording, so the trade first is distinguished by the printed jacket price and the absence of a blind-stamped indent on the rear board.
• Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 — 1971 · Pelican BooksIssued as a Pelican paperback original in 1971 as the concluding volume of the Pelican History of the United States. As a paperback original there is no number line or stated-edition wording; the first printing is identified by the 1971 date, the Pelican imprint and cover, and the absence of any 'revised edition' statement. Many revised editions (later co-authored with Douglas Brinkley) followed. True first is the 1971 Pelican/Penguin paperback original; no earlier hardcover precedes it. Not applicable in the usual sense: this is a mass-market paperback original, so the concern is distinguishing the 1971 first printing from the many later revised Pelican/Penguin editions rather than a book-club printing.
• Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors — 1975 · DoubledayDoubleday first: the words 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page (Doubleday's 1927-2000 convention of printing the phrase beneath the copyright notice, removed on later printings), with a priced dust jacket. First-edition copies are quarterbound in red pebbled paper boards over a blue cloth spine. US true first (Doubleday, Garden City, 1975). Book-of-the-Month Club printings lack the jacket price and typically carry a blind-stamp on the rear board; they are not the true first.
• Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952 (Volume 1) — 1983 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing (New York, 1983), the first of Ambrose's two-volume biography, running to roughly 637 pages. The first printing is identified by the full number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ending in 1 on the copyright page. Issued in publisher's cloth with a dust jacket that should retain its printed price on the front flap; the jacket carries the volume subtitle Soldier, General of the Army,…. US true first (Simon & Schuster, 1983). The Book-of-the-Month Club edition is distinguished by a blind-stamp (small impressed square or dot) to the rear board and a jacket lacking the printed price; it is not the true first.
• Eisenhower: The President (Volume 2) — 1984 · Simon & SchusterFirst US edition, first printing, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1984, of the second volume of Ambrose's two-volume Eisenhower biography, running to 750 pages with illustrations, notes, bibliography and index. The first printing is identified by the full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The volume is bound in quarter cloth over paper-covered boards, and the first-state pictorial dust jacket carries…. US true first (Simon and Schuster, 1984). A separate British edition was also published; the Simon and Schuster printing is the true first for this US title. Book-of-the-Month Club editions lack the printed jacket price and typically carry a blind-stamped dot or square to the lower rear board; they reprint the text but are not the true first.
• Pegasus Bridge: June 6, 1944 — 1985 · Simon & SchusterFirst US edition, first printing, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1985, of Ambrose's account of the British glider assault on the Orne bridges, an octavo of 197 pages illustrated with black-and-white photographs. The first printing is identified by the full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The book is bound with a navy cloth spine over blue paper-covered boards, in a pictorial first-state dust jacket…. US true first (Simon and Schuster, 1985). Book-of-the-Month Club editions lack the printed jacket price and typically carry a blind-stamp to the rear board; they are not the true first.
• Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913-1962 (Volume 1) — 1987 · Simon & SchusterFirst US edition, first printing, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1987, of the first volume of Ambrose's Nixon biography, roughly 720 pages. The first printing is identified by the full number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. The book is bound with a blue cloth spine stamped in copper over brown paper-covered boards, in a pictorial first-state dust jacket that carries the printed price on the front flap (the…. US true first (Simon and Schuster, 1987). Book-of-the-Month Club editions lack the printed jacket price and carry a blind-stamp to the rear board; they are not the true first.
• Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician 1962-1972 (Volume 2) — 1989 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing with the full S&S number line present (the line ends in 1). Dust jacket is price-clipped-free with the publisher's price on the front flap. Volume 2 of the three-volume Nixon biography. US true first; Simon & Schuster was the original publisher and Ambrose was an American author, so no competing prior UK or Canadian edition. Book-of-the-Month Club and other club printings exist; these lack a printed jacket price and often show a blind-stamp on the rear board, and should not be taken for the first.
• Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-1990 (Volume 3) — 1991 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing with the full S&S number line present (the line ends in 1). Dust jacket carries the publisher's price on the front flap. Volume 3, the concluding volume of the Nixon biography. US true first; Simon & Schuster was the original publisher of this American author's work, with no prior UK or Canadian edition. Club printings (including Book-of-the-Month Club) lack a printed jacket price and often bear a blind-stamp on the rear board; not the first.
• Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne — 1992 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing with the full S&S number line present (the line ends in 1). Purple cloth spine over beige boards with gilt lettering on the spine; 335 pages. First-issue dust jacket carries the publisher's price on the front flap. US true first; Simon & Schuster was the original publisher. Demand is elevated by the later HBO miniseries. Book-of-the-Month Club and other club printings lack a printed jacket price, often bear a blind-stamp, and can be a slightly smaller format; not the first.
• D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II — 1994 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing, published 1994, 655 pages, bound in black cloth over red papered boards with the spine lettered and ruled in silver, under a pictorial dust jacket. The first printing shows the staggered Simon & Schuster number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page (the lowest numeral 1 is present, denoting the first printing). The first-issue jacket should retain its printed price on…. US true first; Simon & Schuster was the original publisher of this American author's work. Book-of-the-Month Club and other club printings lack the printed jacket price and often show a blind-stamp on the rear board; they are not the first.
• Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West — 1996 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing with the full number line present (the line ends in 1). The true first state carries the printer's error 'salt port' for 'salt pork' at page 134, line 1, corrected in later printings. Tan boards with tan cloth spine, gilt spine lettering; first-issue dust jacket carries the publisher's price on the front flap. US true first; Simon & Schuster was the original publisher of this American author's work. Book-of-the-Month Club and other club printings lack a printed jacket price and often bear a blind-stamp on the rear board; not the first.
• Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany — 1997 · Simon & SchusterSimon & Schuster first printing, 512 pages, ISBN 0-684-81525-7, bound in blue paper-covered boards under a pictorial dust jacket. The first printing shows the staggered Simon & Schuster number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page (the lowest numeral 1 is present, denoting the first printing). The first-issue jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap; the presence of the price, not its…. US true first; Simon & Schuster was the original publisher of this American author's work. Book-of-the-Month Club and other club printings lack the printed jacket price and typically show a blind-stamp to the rear board; they are not the first.
• The Victors: Eisenhower and His Boys—The Men of World War II — 1998 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint on the title page and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Dealer copies of confirmed firsts describe a priced dust jacket. US true first (Simon & Schuster, 1998). No prominent book-club edition confuses the trade first; identify the first by the number line ending in 1.
• Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad — 2000 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition, first printing bears the Simon & Schuster imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. A large first printing was issued, so first-printing copies are not scarce; confirm by the number line rather than the year alone. US true first (Simon & Schuster, 2000). No prominent book-club edition displaces the trade first; identify the first by the number line ending in 1.
• The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany — 2001 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint and a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Issued in quarter cloth over boards at roughly 299 pages; a very large first printing was run, so identify the first by the number line rather than by scarcity. The printed price should be present on the front jacket flap. US true first (Simon & Schuster, 2001). No prominent book-club edition displaces the trade first; identify the first by the number line ending in 1.
• To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian — 2002 · Simon & SchusterFirst edition, first printing carries the Simon & Schuster imprint, states First Edition, and shows a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. His last book published in his lifetime. US true first (Simon & Schuster, 2002). A separate Easton Press leather-bound issue exists but is a distinct edition, not a book-club reprint that confuses the trade first; identify the trade first by the number line ending in 1.

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