Book Description
Grant wrote his "Personal Memoirs" to secure his family's future. In doing so, the Civil War's greatest general won himself a unique place in American letters. His character, sense of purpose, and simple compassion are evident throughout this deeply moving account, as well as in the letters to his wife, Julia, included here.
Customer Reviews:
U.S. Grant in his own words..........2007-06-26
U.S. Grant is often said to have been a failure at everything in his life except his marriage, war, and his memoirs. The latter, written as he was dying of throat cancer in 1884-1885, provide a straightforward account of his years in uniform during the Civil War.
Grant passes quickly over his Ohio boyhood and time at the United States Military Academy. His service in the Mexican War and his financial misfortunes out of uniform between the wars get only slightly more coverage. His story really begins with his return to uniform in 1861 as a commander of Illinois volunteers. The narrative follows Grant's campaigns in Missouri, Tennessee, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, his elevation to supreme command of the Union Armies, and the final grinding agony of the war in Virgina. The account ends with the cessation of hostilies in 1865.
Grant's memoirs are remarkable reading for a number of reasons. First, they provide insight into the first-rate military mind of a consistantly successful general. Grant's ability to determine the essentials of a situation and remain focused on them are evident. Second, the memoirs are a classic example of clear, simple, English narrative. Third, they display the considerable modesty of a naturally reserved man, a departure from the egotism often found in the personal memoirs of famous men. Grant himself continues to be something of a mystery to historians; these memoirs do not really lift the veil of his sense of privacy.
The Union Army of the Civil War had more than its fair share of politicians in uniform and politically-minded generals. Grant was not immune to spinning history his way; careful-eyed scholars have found more than a few instances where Grant remembered only part of the story or settled a few scores with old opponents. Nevertheless, Grant's memoirs are a valuable resource for understanding the conduct of the Civil War, not least because Grant became such a key figure in the winning of it.
Grant's memoirs are highly recommended to students of the Civil War, and to scholars seeking to understand the art of war in the midst of rebellion.
Review of Memoirs of US Grant.......2006-07-10
General Grant's use of the English language is very interesting and informative. Absolutely a pleasure to read.
A Masterpiece.......2006-02-22
This book is a must-read for any Civil War or American history buff. Grant's writing is consistently clear, elegant, beautiful. He gives an engaging account of his wartime experiences that are accurate to the best of his ability, and he writes with introspection and humility. The personal letters at the end of the volume reveal much about this fascinating man, and are a welcome addition. Please read this one! Another wonderful book in this series is the volume containing Frederick Douglass's autobiographical works.
A History Buff's Wet Dream..........2006-01-17
This is certainly a great book, and in parts, it is a good book. Grant has a very terse, matter-of-fact style, which makes for easy reading. The bulk of the book is devoted to the Civil War, and there are dry patches, and multitudes of "We went to the ridge, and then to the river, and moved our artillery up to the picket" and such-like. But that is what happened, and so you can't fault Grant for his meticulous detailing of troop movements, correspondence with fellow officers, etc. As I said, the great majority of the book is devoted to the Civil War, and there is not a word about Grant's tenure in the White House. Personally, of all topics covered by Grant, I find him to be most fascinating on the subject of the Mexican-American War of 1847. This is not something commonly focused on in history classes, but Grant's account is riveting. Additionally, Grant's remembrances of Lincoln are very interesting, as is his almost awed reverence for the military abilities of Sherman. The book is long, but it doesn't seem long, and if you have a love of history, this is indispensable stuff.
essential.......2005-10-04
A unique chronicle of one who saved the Union. Lucid, entertaining, and expansive. A rare view of one of the most important lives in the 19C. Highly recommended
Amazon.com
In 1862, a prominent Republican visited President Lincoln and called General Ulysses S. Grant an incompetent drunk who created unnecessary political problems. Lincoln, frustrated with all his generals but this one, famously replied: "I can't spare this man; he fights." Indeed, Lincoln had gone through a series of unheroic generals before settling on Grant to lead the Union's Army of the Potomac. Grant's success at marshaling the industrial might of the North eventually pounded the South into submission. This memoir, finished as its author was dying of throat cancer in 1885, is widely admired for its clear and straightforward prose. The volume was an enormously popular hit upon publication (by Mark Twain, no less), and today Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant ranks among the finest pieces of military autobiography ever written.
Book Description
Grant was sick and broke when he began work on his Memoirs. Driven by financial worries and a desire to provide for his wife, he wrote diligently during a year of deteriorating health. He vowed he would finish the work before he died. One week after its completion, he lay dead at the age of 63.
Publication of the Memoirs came at a time when the public was being treated to a spate of wartime reminiscences, many of them defensive in nature, seeking to refight battles or attack old enemies. Grant's penetrating and stately work reveals a nobility of spirit and an innate grasp of the important fact, which he rarely displayed in private life. He writes in his preface that he took up the task "with a sincere desire to avoid doing injustice to anyone, whether on the National or the Confederate side."
Download Description
Among the autobiographies of great military figures, Ulysses S. Grant's is certainly one of the finest, and it is arguably the most notable literary achievement of any American president: a lucid, compelling, and brutally honest chronicle of triumph and failure. From his frontier boyhood to his heroics in battle to the grinding poverty from which the Civil War ironically "rescued" him, these memoirs are a mesmerizing, deeply moving account of a brilliant man, told with great courage as he reflects on the fortunes that shaped his life and his character. Written under excruciating circumstances (as Grant was dying of throat cancer), encouraged and edited from its very inception by Mark Twain, it is a triumph of the art of autobiography.
Customer Reviews:
Grant on Grant: The Most Impartial View of U.S. Grant.......2007-05-22
It is surprising that the most balanced and impartial view of U.S. Grant should be written by Grant himself. His style of writing is clear and sparse, recounting fact as fact and without lengthy editorializing. A must read for any civil war buff or serious historian.
Grant.......2006-07-09
I think this is the only real account you can get of the civil war. It's...Great!
Better appreciation of a great American.......2006-06-05
This book really provides incredible insight into Grant and what made him a great general. In a plainspoken & straightforward manner he gives a recount of his role in the war and his military philosophy (attack). Unlike a modern autobiography we get nothing personal or confessional (not necessarily a bad thing). Any mention of drinking, or his dismal presidency are omitted and his family gets only a paragraph or two; which is fine because no one is interested in Grant's parenting or presidenting tips.
the greatness within a seemingly unremarkable man.......2006-05-17
Although Grant doesn't blow his own horn, a close reading of his campaign accounts supports the "revisionist" view that far from being a butcher of men and Lee's inferior, Grant's victories (other than Shiloh) were tactical in nature, not brute force charges. (OK, there was Cold Harbor, but that was one mistake in a year-long campaign to destroy the South before the North lost its will to fight. Time was not on Grant's side.) Furthermore, Lee, Jackson, Johnson, et. al. always had the easier side of the equation, playing defense and disrupting the North's long lines of supply and communication.
This is also an interesting study on how an apparently unremarkable person find greatness within himself when he is in his element, and how a great general can fail as a president because the leadership roles are quite different.
There is a dry wit in much of Grant's writing which makes it a fun read even if you don't care for the details of his capture of Vicksburg and his eventual destruction of the South's Eastern armies. Grant does not shy away from describing the slogging nature of the war or his mastery of maneuver warfare.
A Class Act.......2006-01-15
I concur with the really good reader reviews above. I will add that what makes Grant's prose so engaging is that it is simple, unadorned, not self flattering, not pompous. It isn't pedantic, dull or uncertain either. In a word, it is Grant. It's probably the best way that you will get to know him. It is the portrait most often attempted by his supporters and the exact opposite of the portrait painted by his detractors. So, Grant presents himself and he is authentic.
You cannot help admiring Grant for his strengths and endearing qualities, his military accomplishments and his everyman characteristics. If you take his version together with what may be valid criticisms from those less admiring, then you get a pretty well rounded view of Grant. You won't find anything in his autobiography that conflicts with that totality.
Grant only covers his Civil War in this memoir, not his Presidency. He was in the last stages of a fatal throat cancer and trying to provide for his family. He had that clarity of a man writing to tell the truth about himself. No need to lie or hide. But that's also the reason that we don't hear about some of his grievances, disputes, recollections and characterizations of his contemporaries. We could have learned a lot from that but Grant is very forgiving and like a gentleman - he just won't tell.
Book Description
This new edition of two of the greatest works to chronicle the Civil War provides the unique perspective of that great conflict as it appeared to its greatest generals. It is illustrated with over 400 drawings and photographs drawn from historically contemporary sources. The illustrated abridgement of the Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is contained in this work. Fast-paced, colorful, lucid and laced with flashes of humor, it provides the most authoritative of all contemporary accounts. All the topics that are not covered in the excerpts are summarized by the editor. Historians have always lamented the fact that Lee, who died only five years after his surrender to Grant, was never able to write his personal memoir of his role in the Civil War. The most detailed and revealing view of this great general in action is by General Armistead L. Long in his classic Memoirs of Robert E. Lee. The edition of Long's Memoirs contained in this work is a shortened version of the original. Peripheral matter has been summarized and full texts of official correspondence and extended quotations by other writers have been deleted. What remains is vivid first-hand portraits of Lee just as the author set it down over a century ago.
Customer Reviews:
Grant's "Memoirs" and Memories of Lee in one nice Gift Book.......2002-10-26
This is a lavishly illustrated abridgement of Grant's wonderful "Personal Memoirs" and of Confederate Officer Armistead Long's "Memoirs of Robert E. Lee", two of the major works of the Civil War (Lee never did get around to writing his own memoirs).
While it must be stressed that this is an abridgement, and the actual volumes themselves are worth purchasing on their own, especially Grant's, the clear text and the extraordinary and realistic illustrations makes this volume a perfect gift for the Civil War buff this holiday season, or a worthy addition to one's own Civil War Library even if you already have the separate volumes - as I do.
Average customer rating:
- A masterpiece of American literature
- A masterpiece of American literature
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The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant
Ulysses, S. Grant
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Memoirs (Penguin Classics)
ASIN: 1598188992 |
Book Description
"Man proposes and God disposes." There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice. Although frequently urged by friends to write my memoirs I had determined never to do so, nor to write anything for publication. In preparing these volumes for the public, I have entered upon the task with the sincere desire to avoid doing injustice to anyone, whether on the National or Confederate side, other than the unavoidable injustice of not making mention often where special mention is due.
Customer Reviews:
A masterpiece of American literature.......2004-03-05
General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.
Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."
Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.
Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.
A masterpiece of American literature.......2004-03-05
General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.
Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."
Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.
Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.
Book Description
There must be many errors of omission in this work, because the subject is too large to be treated of in two volumes in such way as to do justice to all the officers and men engaged. There were thousands of instances, during the rebellion, of individual, company, regimental and brigade deeds of heroism which deserve special mention and are not here alluded to. The troops engaged in them will have to look to the detailed reports of their individual commanders for the full history of those deeds.
Customer Reviews:
A masterpiece of American literature.......2004-03-14
General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher or bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.
Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."
Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.
Though Grant's Memoirs were written 119 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them many times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.
Book Description
Julia Dent Grant wrote her reminiscences with the vivacity and charm she exhibited throughout her life, telling her story in the easy flow of an afternoon conversation with a close friend. Mrs. Grant was raised the pampered daughter of a Missouri planter, and she later remembered her girlhood as an idyll that she wished could have lasted.
Many of the anecdotes she relates give fascinating glimpses into a very troubled period of American history. A dramatic reminiscence recounts the night that Lincoln was assassinated. Mrs. Grant insisted that she and her husband turn down an invitation to the theater in favor of returning home. It saved her husband’s life: he had also been marked for assassination.
Throughout these memoirs, which she ends with her husband’s death, Mrs. Grant strives to correct the misconceptions she believed were being circulated about him. She wanted posterity to share her pride in this man, whom she saw as one of America's greatest heroes.
Customer Reviews:
What A Gift For Immediacy She Had.......2005-08-22
Sadly Julia Dent Grant is little remembered in history today and in her lifetime this remarkable and bright woman placed herself so dutifully in the shadow of her great husband that even in her own time she was not given her proper due. Ever a loving mother and wife, Mrs. Grant was also gifted with many other talents: those of the observer, those of the writer, and most of all the gift of a storyteller.
Mrs. Grant's remembrances of her life and half-century marriage to the President cover her happy childhood in Missouri, the early years in the Grant household, her husband's time as a career soldier and later a struggling businessman in Illinois, and take us into the Civil War years as no one else ever has before. She describes her friendships with a number of southern ladies, her feeling toward the Lincoln's (she admired the President yet found his wife difficult, petty, and unstable) and details the private side of number of figures from that period. Most of all she relates anecdotes that capture the courage, acumen and generosity of her husband as he dealt with foe and comrade alike. The Grant she writes of was a fine man indeed.
There is one feature I noticed right off in Mrs. Grant's book and that is her uneven pacing. By this I mean that she dedicates a large amount of space to some events but only a small amount to others, even though one would think they may be of greater importance to history. Mrs. Grant writes as often and in as much detail on the selection and furnishing of her houses as she does on the Civil War. She dedicates scant ink to the (unhappy) Grant Presidency but then allocates fully half the book to a trip to Europe and the Near East her family takes after leaving public life in 1876. I have no real complaints about this, since this recollection by a great woman behind a great man is never boring, and indeed her account of time among the sites and figures of 1870's Europe was a delight in itself, but I was surprised she chose to plot her memoir this way.
I wish both Mrs. Grant and her memoir were better known in the 21st century and I hope this review in some small way might contribute to that.
An Essential Work For Students of Grant.......2003-01-07
This fascinating autobiography is a must-read for anyone wanting a personal view not only of Ulysses Grant, but of his all-too-often ignored and underrated wife. Julia Grant's memoir is an unusually frank and entertaining visit with her unique, delightfully engaging personality--she was a far cry from the rather sour-looking, unprepossessing image one gets from her photographs.
One thing I found particularly fascinating about her book--something previous reviewers have strangely overlooked--is the inadvertent way she reveals not only Grant's many virtues, but his faults as well. Grant's cold, affection-starved upbringing left him emotionally immature in certain ways. Julia's candid style depicts her husband as sometimes capable of being pig-headed, uncommunicative, and remarkably insensitive to her feelings, while his usually charming sense of humor could take on a childishly cruel edge. This warts-and-all look at the man is a refreshing change from the uncritical, unbelievable hagiography found in most contemporary accounts of Grant. In short, this book is a psychological gold mine!
Julia Dent Grant-Loving Wife of U.S. Grant.......2002-07-30
I was thrilled to discover the existence of this book and equally thrilled at the opportunity to see into the lives of the Grants from Mrs. Grant's point of view.
Throughout her Memoirs, Mrs. Grant's love and devotion to her husband and family are apparent. Equally apparent is the evidence that her affection was completely reciprocated. Not highly educated by modern standards, Mrs. Grant's sharp perception provides a unique glimpse into the personal life of her family and the issues that shaped her destiny. She was born the daughter of a Missouri planter, raised among slaves and southern society belles. Yet, during the Civil War, her devotion to her husband led her to become one of the most vocal proponents of preserving the Union among all her aquaintances. Amazingly, she was with the general during much of the war; in St. Louis before Vicksburg and in Virginia prior to the surrender of Lee at Appomatox Courthouse. Her presence helped ease the extreme pressure placed on her husband from Washington demands for quick victory in Virginia.
The memoir also describes the Grant's occupation of the White House during the Grant Administration and the world tour of the Grants following her husband's presidency. Many details describe table linens and ladies fashion of the time, an important concern for a woman of Mrs. Grant's position, but not so for the woman of today. Still, this memoir is a wonderful addition to my library and will be a valuable addition to the collection of anyone interested in understanding the views of nineteenth century women and Mrs. Grant in particular.
I loved this book.......2001-01-03
I really recommend this book to anyone who likes US Grant or the civil war. I didn't think Mrs. Grant's book would be interesting, but I could not put it down. The way she describes her husband shows a very deep love and attraction for him. I didn't think people of that age were as open with their feelings, but this gal sure was. She was so frank in expressing her feelings for Grant, no wonder he followed her around like a lovesick calf.
She even hints about the physical side of their union, which was incredible since she wrote it 100 years ago. I think anyone would love this book, Mrs. Grant writes well and is quite funny and entertaining. I give this book a solid "10."
John Simon wins again!.......2000-06-07
The most prolific editor of Grant-ology does a tremendous job pulling together Julia Dent Grant's manuscript. I would have liked to have had her get into more depth on certain issues, but what can you do, she's been gone for some time now. This is ultimately an insightful look into one of the more interesting first ladies, and a wonderful source of information about what went into making Ulysses S. Grant.
Average customer rating:
- A masterpiece of American literature
- An extroardinary must-read classic of the Civil War
- Still One of the Best Histories of the Civil War
- The greatest memoir of a generation
- Simply amazing - a must for Civil War enthusiasts
|
Civil War Memoir Box (Library of America)
Ulysses S. Grant , and
William Tecumseh Sherman
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0940450690 |
Book Description
The two greatest firsthand accounts of the Civil War together in a boxed collector's edition. The extraordinary memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman evoke the Civil War with a vividness unparalleled in American writing. Annotated by distinguished historians and filled with detailed maps, battle plans, and facsimiles reproduced from the original editions, these lavish volumes offer a unique vantage on the most terrible, moving, and inexhaustibly fascinating event in American history.
Customer Reviews:
A masterpiece of American literature.......2004-04-04
General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher or bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.
Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase."
Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud.
Though Grant's Memoirs were written 119 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them many times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.
An extroardinary must-read classic of the Civil War.......2001-09-07
If you're only going to read five books on the Civil War - which is like saying, only eat one french fry - make this one of them. Grant's autobiography, written under excruciating conditions of financial pressure and failing health in the late 1880's, is one of the most unforgettable reads available about the American Civil War.
Terse, simple, and almost painfully modest, Grant takes us through his life - the schooling at West Point (he was too retiring to point out they'd got his middle name wrong at registration, and was mistakenly given the name Ulysses SIMPSON Grant which he used for the rest of his life). The bravery and initiative of the Mexican War. The long, lonely postings in the early '50's to California, a continent away from his wife and beloved young children. The depression, leaving the Army, trying to make it in civilian life, failing at almost everything he tried. Then the war begins in 1861 when Lincoln calls for volunteers. It's typical of Grant that he goes to a little midwest recruiting post and modestly says he might take command of something very small - a company, perhaps? This, for a West Point graduate. From then on the book ceases being merely very interesting and starts becoming a can't-put-down.
The simple and good-hearted soul of the man just shines through his words, and he doesn't get caught up badly in the mid-century Victorian fustery of so much Civil War writing. He tells you what happened and what he thought about it; I remember about Lee at Appomatox, he said that he felt like anything in world after Lee's surrender except gloating over so brave an army as Lee's who had fought so nobly for a cause - even though he also thought it was one of the worst causes for which men had ever fought. His prose just flows through the extraordinary events he helped channel - Shiloh, Vicksburg, The Battle of the Wilderness, the surrender, and all points in between. It's an irreplaceable and wonderful resource and you end up falling big-time for Ulysses S. Grant. Don't miss it.
Still One of the Best Histories of the Civil War.......2000-07-17
I first read U.S. Grant's memoirs when I was a college student during the Vietnam War. It helped me a great deal to appreciate how horrific war was and still is and that it should only be suffered when the cause is truly worthwhile. It was in the American Civil War and World War II. It was not in the Vietnam War. It was not our finest hour.
But this book also got me hooked on the history of the American Civil War. It is in my judgment, after more than fifty years and reading perhaps a thousand volumes about this watershed event in our nation's history, the single best written and brutally honest work on that event. Especially so in that it was written first-hand by one of the principal characters in that national and human tragedy.
For those of you really interested in becoming a student of the American Civil War, I recommend it highly, after you read the American Heritage History of the Civil War and before you read Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas Southhall Freeman and the four book series by Bruce Catton.
If by that time you're not hooked and become a Civil War junkie, you never will be.
The greatest memoir of a generation.......2000-06-07
Written more as a military memoir than a personal, Grant proves to be an outstanding author as well as a General. Reading this set me off to find more about the General's personal life. I highly recommend to anyone interested in the Civil War, you won't be disappointed.
Simply amazing - a must for Civil War enthusiasts.......1999-10-30
Not only was U.S. Grant a superb general, but the man could write as well. He was known for being simple and direct, and this trait comes througgh in his writing style. Grant keeps his narrative moving along at a brisk pace, sticking to the facts as he knew them to be. One also gets a sense of the politics of Army life back in the 1860s, and one can learn more about the nature of the times in the careful wording Grant uses in some parts of his story so as to avoid offfending his fellow veterans of lesser stature. These added dimensions bring his chronicle of the Civil War to life in a way no modern author ever could. This book is a "must" for any armchair historian of the U.S. Civil War.
Customer Reviews:
Remarkable Memoirs.......2007-06-08
This has long been regarded as one of the better memoirs to come out of the post-Civil War period and I can see why. Grant seemed convinced that the course he was on, and more importantly, the course the Union was on, would lead to eventual victory. Grant wrote his memoirs in the hope of providing some financial security for his wife and family upon the event of his death, which came very soon after finishing his memoirs. This is a refreshingly honest, fair, and generally unpretentious account detailing his own role in this pivotal event in American history.
We get a brief glimpse into his early years, his time as a student at West Point, his military service in the Mexican American War and the most well-known period of Grant's life, his service in the Union army during the Civil War. I found the early part of the book to be very illuminating as I did not know that much about his life before the Civil War. He could be very self-effacing, could admit weaknesses, in other words he just seems to come across as plain spoken and honest about himself. Throughout the book he utters what I considered to be very insightful and thoughtful comments. For example, he admitted the reputation attached to Lee by the Northern press and other Union commanders, but he realized that Lee was still human. He also relates his first encounter as a commander in the Union army as he's about to face the enemy and finds that the enemy was just as frightened as he was. Grant's attitudes toward the earlier war with Mexico and the Southerners' attachment to their cause also offer revealing sentiments.
I'm not going to describe every campaign Grant was involved in, but you will encounter Grant in the western theatre first, with notable successes achieved at Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and etc., up to his appointment as Lieutenant General and head of all U.S. armies in the field. The nearly epic battles fought between Lee and Grant in Virginia from the spring of 1864 up through Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865 are obviously covered, though we also get information on Sherman's movements in Georgia and the Carolinas and other important sections where the war was being waged. I think it's fair to say there is a certain amount of spin or a sort of expectations game being displayed in Grant's memoirs, for example, how the Union armies usually always inflicted heavier casualties on the Confederates, how the North, despite its superiority in numbers, actually had many disadvantages and etc. Some of his points are very valid, but there can also be no doubt that his victories in Virginia came at very heavy costs in terms of Union casualties.
Grant offers opinions on the quality of the soldiers and officers, both North and South. He also demonstrates throughout his memoirs his rather magnanimous feelings toward his opponents, the rights of Southern citizens and their property (i.e., showing restraint in terms of looting and wanton destruction of private property and etc.). Some of this, I'm sure, was an attempt to improve his own image, but no doubt, there had to be some truth in his sentiments expressed. The maps included in this volume are very detailed, but often difficult to read. As a military narrative of the movements, battles and strategies of the Union armies, this is a must read.
Well Written and Very Interesting.......2006-12-14
Personal Memoirs by US Grant is a wonderful book. It is well written and very interesting. Grant does not use this book as a tool to make himself look great, but rather it is more like a military after action report where he expalins what has taken place. What is neat is he includes his decision making process for many of the major events. My esteem for President Grant was greatly enhanced by reading this book. It is must reading for any civil war or biography lover.
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