18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Pop Bio With Some Redeeming Features, August 25, 2008
This review is from: Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero (Eminent Lives) (Hardcover)
This is a tiny book that one can easily read in a few hours, apparently intended for those (90%) of the current US population for whom the name of Ulysses Grant is unrecognizable. And as usual for a British author writing about American history, many of the facts are wrong and he feels compelled to compare Grant and his other American examples to British figures like Churchill, Wellington and Montgomery.
That being said, this would be a reasonable book to give a 8th grader to hopefully interest him in American history. The writing is crisp and the prose flows easily.
Author Korda essentially relies on two (count 'em, TWO) sources for most of his work; the highly controversial McFeely with its many errors and the 1928 work by Woodward. It does not seem as though Korda read Grant's superb autobiography, but he presents a very sympathetic portrait of Grant that might inspire further interest in his subject.
The best parts of the book are the author's depiction of Grant's childhood, his personal bravery, rock-solid marriage, liberal attitudes (at a time when the Republicans were liberal and the Democrats conservative), and the close of his life when he wrote his autobiography. It is well-known that Grant was an abject business failure, putting the interests of others over his own, and showing a great deal of undeserved trust and loyalty. Although Grant was an extreme example of a military man unable to function as a civilian businessman, one should remember that others such as Patton, Eisenhower, Pershing, Lee etc, were never so tested. An uncommonly brave man, Grant saw and understood the tragedies of war and in spite of personal feelings was able to do his duty to the best of his abilities.
Author Korda mentions one of Grant's problems that has been overlooked by almost all historians and needs reinforcement. Grant suffered frequently from debilitating migraine headaches, even almost missing Appromattox as a result. Grant needed his wife or Rawlins when he was incapacitated by a headache, and they kept him isolated in a darkened tent or room until the headache ran its course. Literally all of these episodes were recorded as Grant being drunk or sleeping off a hangover. The incidence of Grant's drinking was probably a small fraction of what was reported, if at all. It must be remembered that at the time, drinking was not considered as bad as having a mental disorder (like having frequent migraine headaches) and Grant himself apparently used drunkenness as a reason for his incapacitation rather than mentioning his headaches.
As far as judging Grant as a military commander or President, this book is simply inadaquate in scope to support the author's conclusions. Nonetheless, he does not miss a reasoned and defensible scholarly analysis by far. Grant did very well in the Civil War, displaying excellent strategic and tactical sense, and a firm understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents. At Belmont he was only forced to withdraw when his green troops fell away to plunder the Confederate camp, and his campaigns against Fort Donelson and Vicksburg did not offer much opportunity for criticism. He avoided defeat at Shiloh, won easily at Chattanooga, and was the Federal General to finally bring Lee to bay.
Historians have severely criticized his long casualty list in the 1864 campaign against Lee, but it must be remembered that Meade was in tactical command of the Army of the Potomac, not Grant. An often overlooked item was Grant's elimination of prisoner exchanges. Those exchanges worked to the disadvantage of the Federals due to their numerical superiority. Grant's decision was also more humane; as he said, otherwise the only way to deny the Confederates its soldiers would be to kill them (thus raising battle deaths on both sides.)
As President, Grant was a calming influence, and he did forestall another war with England over Canada. This is an episode overlooked by historians, but Palmerston had once thought of offering Canada to the US in return for recognizing the Confederacy and Canada was definitely in play. Following the Civil War there was a great deal resentment against England for aiding the Confederacy and meddling in US internal affairs, and war over Canada could have easily resulted. Yes, financial scandals rocked Grant's terms of office, but there were also many positive things that Grant contributed. Unfortunately, scandals are much more popular among writers wishing to sell books. A modern reader must surely understand that.
There are many mistakes in the book that are jarring. George B. McClellan is repeatedly given as McClennan and the author makes statements such as; "No American ex-president had ever fallen so low, and except for Harding and Nixon, none would ever again." Well, sorry to say, Harding died in office and would never become an ex-president. Also saying that "...MacArthur can be thought of as a latter-day McClellan,..." is simply ludicrous. And finally, is it required for a writer to include a criticism of Bush "(...a sentiment that might usefully have been followed 133 years later by President George W. Bush)" to get good reviews from the media? Ok, I get it!! You hate Bush! Now can we please produce a scholarly historical work of times and personnel before the 21th century without making negative comments about Bush?
I finished the little book conflicted over this author's reasonable and sympathetic presentation of a much-loved American hero of the 19th century but containing his condescending British Empire attitude and contemporary political opinions. In short, the author lost my good offices at the end. I can readily see why this book is rated from 1 to 5 stars. It all depends on the reader, so I compromised with three.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Disappointing Book, February 14, 2005
This review is from: Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero (Eminent Lives) (Hardcover)
I had looked forward to gaining new insights into Grant, particularly about his two presidential terms, from this book. Unfortunately, the book reads, as another reviewer said, like a high school term paper. In my opinion, it should have received a low mark. First, there are factual errors. For example, the author is confused as to which General Smith served under General Butler and in suggesting that Sheridan's ride around Lee's army was part and parcel with his scorched-earth campaign in the Shenandoah valley. These do not give me much confidence regarding the quality of scholarship for the rest of the book.
Secondly, I don't think that the book does a good job of supporting many of its conclusions. For example, while admittedly more a matter of opinion, the book characterizes Grant's military strategy as one of attrition, largely ignoring both the political subtexts and the actual elements of Grant's strategy to bring the war to conclusion. There is a rather naïve discussion of General Butler's political standing and none as to why it was politically expedient to leave him in his command during the 1864 election, a decision with tremendous and disastrous impact on the campaign against Richmond and the army of Northern Virginia. There is no discussion of Bank's efforts in Texas, or of the initial failures of Hunter's campaign in the Shenandoah Valley although all of these were elements of or affected Grant's strategic vision. There is no discussion as to why Grant chose to move on Lee's right rather than his left - certainly an issue that would give the reader an insight into Grant's ability to integrate both military and political variables into his campaign strategy.
All in all a jejune, disappointing book not worth the candle.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the greatest bio, December 7, 2004
This review is from: Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero (Eminent Lives) (Hardcover)
I was given the uncorrected proof of this book to read.
It's an easy read and one can get through it in a day.
Some of the info is not surprising and others are general mistakes.
Some of his comparisons of Grant to present figures is interesting and some are not at all understandable.
Sometimes you wonder where Mr. Korda is coming from with his information.
Some of the things he has Grant doing while President seems to be added to the story to shock people.
Careful study can find the action he gave Grant was actually done by Lincoln which he mentions briefly.
His notations of Grant being innocent of alot of the corruption in his administration is true.
Grant had a great admirable quality which was loyalty.
But it was loyalty to a fault. What I mean by this is, if you were his friend, you could do no wrong. He was blinded by the friendship and could not believe that a friend or family member could be corrupt or try to stab him in the back.
His statements of Grant hating Custer during the war is not true as well.
Custer was one of his best cavalry commanders who won victories for him.
He didn't hate Custer for taking the surrender table from the McClean home after the surrender because General Sheridan bought the table from McClean and gave it to Custer as a gift to Mrs. Custer.
Grant knew this and wasn't upset over a legit purchase.
He distain for Custer didn't come until 1875 when Custer testified against the Indian Ring which also named Grant's corrupt friends and family, his brother Orville, of scamming the soldiers, civilians, and Indians who did business with post sutlers.
If tyou wish to read the best book on Grant, purchase his own autobiography.
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