But Balkoski said it angered him that a professional historian such as Ambrose would copy a fellow author's words without using quote marks.

FORBES: More Controversy For Stephen Ambrose

Perhaps occasionally he is too much the conscientious professional historian.

ECONOMIST: Arab conquests

He was almost as proud of being an amateur jazz critic (writing for years, under a pseudonym, for the New Statesman) as he was of being a professional historian.

ECONOMIST: Eric Hobsbawm, historian, died on October 1st, aged 95

But Mr Kagan's Whiggery helps to bring long-dead diplomatic history to life: who else but a professional historian would want to read about the Monroe doctrine except for the light that it throws on America's current dilemma?

ECONOMIST: American foreign policy