Harvard history professor and author Niall Ferguson has plunked down $2.25 million for a home in Cambridge.

The prolific and controversial Ferguson, who specializes in economic and financial history, bought 17 Traill St. in late August, according to data obtained from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The sellers were Willits H. Sawyer and Rosalie Hornblower.

The property was bought with a $1 million mortgage from the Cambridge Trust Co.

Ferguson appears often as a television commentator and writes commentary for several news organizations. He is well known for clashing publicly with economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and for arguing that the United States should embrace its role as an imperial power.