Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S.Grant: xxx (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Grant, Ulysses

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140437010 ISBN 13: 9780140437010

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1999

Synopsis

Faced with cancer and financial ruin, the Civil War's greatest general and former president, Ulysses S. Grant wrote his personal memoirs to secure his family's future. In doing so he won himself a unique place in American letters. Acclaimed by writers as diverse as Mark Twain and Gertrude Stein, Grant's memoirs demonstrate the intelligence, intense determination, and laconic modesty that made him the Union's foremost commander. PERSONAL MEMOIRS is devoted almost entirely to his life as a soldier. For their directness and clarity, his writings on war are without rival in American Literature.

About this title

Review:

"The best [memoirs] of any general's since Caesar." --Mark Twain

"A unique expression of the national character . . . [Grant] has conveyed the suspense which was felt by himself and his army and by all who believed in the Union cause. The reader finds himself . . . on edge to know how the Civil War is coming out." --Edmund Wilson

"Perhaps the most revelatory autobiography of high command to exist in any language. . . . If there is a single contemporary document which explains 'why the North won the Civil war, ' that abiding conundrum of American historical inquiry, it is the Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant." --John Keegan

"Well observed, often humorous, invariably charming, penetrating and lucid . . . On every page, his narrative has the simple directness of the finest English prose, inspired by the King James Bible on which he had been raised. The overall effect is both intimate and majestic." --The Guardian

From the Back Cover:

Faced with failing health and financial ruin, the Civil War's greatest general and former president wrote his personal memoirs to secure his family's future - and won himself a unique place in American letters. Devoted almost entirely to his life as a soldier, Grant's Memoirs traces the trajectory of his extraordinary career - from West Point cadet to general-in-chief of all Union armies. For their directness and clarity, his writings on war are without rival in American literature, and his autobiography deserves a place among the very best in the genre.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0140437010
• ISBN 13: 9780140437010
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 704
• Editor: McPherson James M.