Grant Rises in the West: The First Year, 1861-1862 [Paperback]

Kenneth P. Williams (Author), Mark Grimsley (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1997

Ulysses S. Grant was a store clerk in Galena, Illinois, in April 1861 when he answered President Lincoln’s call to fight for the Union. In The First Year, 1861–1862, Grant begins as a colonel of Illinois volunteers and moves into prominence after strategically important battles at Belmont, Forts Henry and Donelson, and Shiloh.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Published in 1952 and 1956, respectively, these trace this Civil War-rior's rise from colonel in the Illinois volunteers to his defeat of the Confederacy. A fine portrait of Grant.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Grant Rises in the West "holds the reader . . . [Williams's] own military career . . . has given him knowledge tempered with charity and understanding for human weakness in the stress of battle."-New York Times Book Review (New York Times Book Review )

"[Williams] demonstrates a remarkable ability to make the most confused battle clear."-Journal of American History (Journal of American History )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 593 pages
• Publisher: Bison Books (June 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803297939
• ISBN-13: 978-0803297937
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting, Very Detailed, July 22, 2001

By 

Chris "Chris906" (Biloxi, MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grant Rises in the West: The First Year, 1861-1862 (Paperback)

I think the book is better than the other review gave it credit for. I will agree that he does go out of his way to discredit Grant's drinking. But on the whole these are pretty informative books not as dry as the other review says they are. The two new editions by the University of Nebraska Press have great introductions by Grimsley and Simpson. Simpson gives more credit to Williams than the review here gives. These introductions are excellent. But the volumes are not always about Grant. The Kentucky Invasion is covered in the second volume as is the battle of Murfreesboro. I recommend these books to anyone interested in Grant and/or the Western Theater of the Civil War.

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Complex, dry and lifeless, September 2, 2000

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grant Rises in the West: The First Year, 1861-1862 (Paperback)

Kenneth William wrote a series of five books on Ulysses S. Grant in the 1950's. He died before he could complete his supposedly "definitive treatment" of Grant the general. Williams' books are well-researched and you will find few factual gaffes. However, his writing style is often torturous and his passion for meaningless minutiae will probably drive you crazy. He excels in listing every detail of a battle until you're shaking your head or holding it as you reach for the aspirin bottle.

Williams' reverence for Grant is evident throughout. He is also peculiarly defensive about the issue of Grant's occasional over-indulgence in whiskey and in his footnotes he becomes almost hysterical on this topic. This type of hagiography is misplaced in a serious work and seriously undermines the credibility of the work. William's five volumes have been pretty much forgotten in the modern era and for good reason. He tells the reader almost nothing about Grant as a human being, his private life (pivotal in Grant's story) is regally ignored throughout.

If you are interested in examining Grant as a general, opt for the much superior books by J.F.C. Fuller, available on Amazon. This is a lifeless and boring treatment of a highly complex and fascinating man.