Even before historian Joseph Ellis became a best-selling author, he was famous for his vivid lectures. In his popular courses at the exclusive Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, he would often enliven classroom discussions by describing his own combat experience in Vietnam. As Ellis's reputation grew—his books on the Founding Fathers have won both the prestigious National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize—the history professor began to regale local and national reporters with his memories of war.

Last year, after The Boston Globe carried accounts of Ellis's experience as a platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam, someone who knew the truth about Ellis dropped a dime. Last week the Globe revealed that Ellis, famous for explaining the nation's history, had explaining to do about his own past.

"Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made," said an abject Ellis. It turned out that while the eminent historian had served in the Army, he'd spent his war years not in the jungles of Southeast Asia, but teaching history at West Point. He'd also overstated his role in the anti-war movement and even his high-school athletic record. His admission shocked colleagues, fellow historians, and students, who wondered why someone so accomplished would embellish his past. But it seems that success and truthfulness don't always go hand in hand.