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.
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.
Product Description
Green and gilt cloty decorative boards. Portrait frontispiece. 31 Maps and illustrations throughout.
Product Description
In this newest addition to the Great Generals Series, John Mosier brings to life the brilliant military strategist Ulysses S. Grant. A modest and unassuming man, Grant never lost a battle, leading the Union to victory over the Confederacy during the Civil War, ultimately becoming president of the reunited states. Grant revolutionized military warfare by creating new leadership strategies and by integrating new technologies in classical military strategy.
In this compelling biography, Mosier reveals the man behind the military legend, showing how Grant's creativity and genius off the battlefield shaped him into one of our nation's greatest military leaders.
Customer Reviews:
Grant, the greatest general.......2007-06-03
I admire Washington, Lincoln and Grant. While the former two have garnered numerous accolades, Grant has been unjustifiably denigrated personally (alcoholic, fool, depressed) and professionally (butcher). His presidency has been unappreciated. Mosier makes a persuasive case that General Grant was probably a genius. In the final chapter, he briefly discusses Grant's undervalued presidency. I would highly recommend two other brief succinct biographies one by Korda and another by Bunting both of which explore Grant's presidency.
Mosier dispels many Grant myths. He was not an alcoholic in a medical sense. He was self-taught in algebra. He entered West Point which was one of the best educational institutions in the world. West Point entrance examination had a 50% failure rate. He graduated 21st in a class of 39 but 40 of them failed to graduate so he was in the top 25%. He was a good artist with a great 3-D vision which was essential for a commander during battle. He was a great horseman.
In the Mexican war, Grant was a quartermaster who demonstrated tremendous skill in logistics. This experience was vital when he commanded the Union armies and he made sure his men got enough ammunition, food etc. He displayed tremendous personal courage during the Mexican war (riding away to get ammunition) and ingenuity (dragging cannon to a church steeple).
Mosier compares U.S. Grant favorably with other great generals, namely Wellington, Napoleon and Foch. He finds Grant to be superior all of them. Without him, the North would have lost the war. Grant never lost a battle. Mosier defends Grant against charges of butchery by comparing Civil War casualties with those suffered by the British and French in World War I. Robert E. Lee said, "I have carefully searched the military records of ancient and modern history, and have never found Grant's superior as a general". Grant's magnanimity in victory is still an American tradition.
The book contains some historical errors which other reviewers have pointed out and I will not belabor here. This prevents me from awarding 5 stars. I am happy to find a book that appreciates this good, decent, honest everyman, great general and undervalued president.
Valuable Addition to Grant Knowledge.......2007-04-24
In GRANT by John Mosier, the accomplished military historian and author of The Myth of the Great War: A New Military History of World War I, the author posits that Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) is "one of history's greatest captains" (xi). This volume of Palgrave Macmillan's Great Generals Series, effectively validates this claim. The limber prose is illuminating, succinct, and decisive; plus, the presentation of facts is exact and thorough. Being a historian, ROTC cadet, and espoused Grant admirer; I must note that this is the best study of Grant since Flood's Grant and Sherman: The Friendship That Won the Civil War, and one of the most hagiographical on Grant (a positive since the rise of Revisionist History). I was surprised and delighted by the level of intellectual thought, study, and research that was compiled in only 199 pages.
This book is a valuable addition to the study of such an illusive and grossly misunderstood man. Mosier captures the inalienable quality of Grant that many biographers have missed: true genius. I do not understand why men like McFeely in Grant: A Biography, who won an undeserved Pulitzer for his bilge about Grant, and many other biographers have interpreted Grant as an inebriate, ignoramus, depressed fool and butcher. The proof against these fallacies are within Mosier's text. Mosier convinces the reader, and supports my long held hypothesis, that Grant was not an alcoholic in the medical sense of the term and that he possessed inherent genius. I have always admired Grant and considered him my foremost hero but this text radically altered my opinion to the highest degree. I have nothing but the utmost esteem and veneration for this great captain.
Mosier says of Grant that he was "a world class strategist whose achievements left a lasting imprint on the American military, and his unbroken string of victories make him unique" (1). In supporting this claim Mosier refrains from "conjecture and inference" and instead finds support from fact (10). One such poignant quote from the text was, "The most important part of Grant's significance as a military leader...is his attitude, his calm steadiness, together with his unwavering confidence in his men...has become what we might call the signature of the American commander" (166). Indeed, one might infer that this is also an American quality: the everyman quietly and diligently working for himself and posterity. It is the legacy of Grant that Robert E. Lee summed up best, "I have carefully searched the military records of ancient and modern history, and have never found Grant's superior as a general" (164). Grant the man is an enigma, for he is often described as "taciturn and imperturbable" but I feel Mosier reveals more details on this illusive subject (10).
Overall I would give this book 5 stars for high quality prose, superior insight, hagiography, and excellent readability. The general reader will also delight in this study of Grant for Mosier provides essential information for any laymen not familiar with the military world about campaigns, theory and Grant's peers. While nothing will compare to Grant's own Ulysses S. Grant : Memoirs and Selected Letters : Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant / Selected Letters, 1839-1865 (Library of America), a masterpiece of American prose, Mosier's book provides rich detail to the spectacular life of the man. A companion piece would be Josiah Bunting's Ulysses S. Grant (The American Presidents), another equally readable and great addition to Grant knowledge. Let me be brief: I recommend this book for anyone interested in Grant, military history, and the American Civil War.
An Okay Book on Grant, But There Are Better Ones Out There.......2007-03-29
In my humble opinion, while Mosier has written a book with interesting insights and conclusions about Grant's ability as a general, I feel that he got too much into analysis of his personality and why he did what he did. I say this because at the beginning of the book, Mosier admits that he does not have much information on Grant the man. So why draw all of these conclusions if you do not know much of the man's personality? Why not just instead analyze his successes and failures?
Another point of contention I have are the lack of good maps. While Mosier does have some good descriptions of Grant's campaigns, there are not nearly enough maps to detail his Civil War movements.
Granted, while I am a lifelong Civil War buff, I am by no means and expert on the period. However, I do believe readers will get more out of reading other titles on Grant, specficially: "Grant" by Jean Smith, "Grant and Lee" by JFC Fuller, or the titles by Bruce Catton (Grant Moves South, Grant Takes Command).
Complaints aside, I do believe that Mosier has written a book that will challenge the reader to further assess Grant's ability as a general and president.
Save your money........2007-03-08
I wish that I read these reviews before purchasing this book and hope that a few will save their dough by reading this. Not only is the book filled with basic factual errors it paints such a saintly figure of General Grant that one would suspect Mosier is related. From the author's perspective, Grant is not only a genius but his alchoholism and depression were actually assets! U.S. Grant was an excellent commander, far better on the offense than on the defense but Mosier's treatment would lead one to believe that he won the war single handedly. Again, I urge you to save your time and money, and find a good copy of Grant's Memoirs.
Mistakes detract from good conclusions.......2006-11-10
Have to concur that the book abounds in factual errors and this is a shame because the overall approach and observations about Grant's genius are sound. Mosier dispels the myth that Grant was a dullard at West Point (not challenged enough) or a chronic alcoholic-- more likely an "episodic alcohol abuser" who had it under control by war. Other points: Casualties were as great, and often greater, in the Napoleonic Wars but armies were made up of the dregs of society and most of the dead weren't missed--harsh but probably some truth in that. So Grant wasn't a "butcher" but all strata of society was now represented even in the lower ranks and, coupled with a literate society and a lively press, deaths shook the nation, especially starting with Shiloh. Halleck comes off even worse than in most works: he set Grant up for Shiloh. Anyway, the novice really needs to get his facts elsewhere--and some decent maps--elsewhere but should eventually read this book.
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General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Memoirs (Penguin Classics)
Lincoln: Speeches and Writings: Volume 2: 1859-1865 (Library of America)
Abraham Lincoln : Speeches and Writings 1832-1858 (Library of America)
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (The American Civil War)
The Recollections and Letters of General Robert E. Lee (Civil War Library)
