stephen edward ambrose (january 10, 1936 – october 13, 2002) was an american historian and author. he wrote the biographies of the u.s. presidents dwight d. eisenhower and richard nixon. he wrote many war books, including bestsellers, such as "band of brothers", "undaunted courage" and "citizen soldiers". "band of brothers" was famously made into a 2001 hbo miniseries of the same name. the miniseries was created by tom hanks and steven spielberg. he was also the longtime professor of history at the university of new orleans until his retirement in 1995.