Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.41 (788 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B004CWFASO |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 387 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-07-20 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"A Masterpiece Of Memoirs" according to Nathan Albright. It is highly noteworthy that while the first volume of his memoirs covered his family history and early life, the second volume ends at the end of the Civil War. It is hard to know if this was planned, or merely that Grant just ran out of time to write about Reconstruction in more detail than his few comments towards the end of this volume. Compared to the first volume, the second volume is a bit less organized, especially given that there is a somewhat undigested and very large appendix that partially recapitulates the contents of the rest of the volume while containing additional comments about the Trans-Mississippi fron. "Great Book For Getting to Know the Inner Thoughts of Our 18th President of the United States" according to Don Kidwell. "To maintain peace in the future it is necessary to be prepared for war." - Ulysses S. GrantNow where have I heard that passage before? Interesting, informative volumes of what comes across as a knowledgeable individual. As to autobiographies, definitely a worthy endeavor and one that I did enjoy reading. This last passage from volume 2 particularly struck me so am going to finish with it in its' entirety. "I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and on. Grant's Best and Final Days john purcell Very late in life, destitute and sick with the cancer that killed him, U.S. Grant penned his personal memoirs. He focused almost exclusively on the war years, with some mention of his youth and early years in the old army. You could read this book and not notice that he had ever become President, that job must have been an afterthought and clearly not a role he relished. Like many of us, Grant was terrified of public speaking and interacting with large groups. Even as President he generally avoided such requirements, preferring to issue orders or read a brief statement. Not sure that would work these days.Grant's humor, co
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. 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 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. Driven by financial worries and a desire to provide for his wife, he wrote diligently during a year of deteriorating health. 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. He vowed he would finish the work before he died, and one week after its completion, he lay dead at the age of 63. 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.". Written under excruciating circumstances-Grant was dying of throa