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Ulysses S. Grant

Personal Memoirs: Ulysses S. Grant (Modern Library War) Paperback – May 4, 1999

by Ulysses S. Grant (Author), Caleb Carr (Editor), Geoffrey Perret (Introduction)

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"One of the most unflinching studies of war in our literature." --William McFeeley

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.

The books in the Modern Library War series have been chosen by series editor Caleb Carr according to the significance of their subject matter, their contribution to the field of military history, and their literary merit.

Print length

736 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Modern Library
Publication date

May 4, 1999
Dimensions

6.1 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches
ISBN-10

0375752285
ISBN-13

978-0375752285
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Destitute and wracked by throat cancer, Ulysses S. Grant finished writing his Personal Memoirs shortly before his death in 1885. Today their clear prose stands as a model of autobiography. Civil War soldiers are often celebrated for the high literary quality of the letters they sent home from the front lines; Grant's own book is probably the best piece of writing produced by a participant in the War Between the States. Apart from Lincoln, no man deserves more credit for securing the Northern victory than Grant, and this chronicle of campaigns and battles tells how he did it. (The book also made a bundle of money for his family, which had been reeling from the failure of Grant's brokerage firm.) This is not an overview of the entire Civil War; as the North was beating the South on the third day of Gettysburg, for example, Grant was in Mississippi capturing Vicksburg. But it is a great piece of writing, one that can be appreciated even by readers with little interest in military history. --John J. Miller

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 toknow how the Civil War is coming out." --Edmund Wilson

From the Inside Flap

"One of the most unflinching studies of war in our literature."--William McFeeley

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.

The books in the Modern Library War series have been chosen by series editor Caleb Carr according to the significance of their subject matter, their contribution to the field of military history, and their literary merit.

From the Back Cover

"One of the most unflinching studies of war in our literature." --William McFeeley

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.
The books in the Modern Library War series have been chosen by series editor Caleb Carr according to the significance of their subject matter, their contribution to the field of military history, and their literary merit.

About the Author

Ulysses S. Grant, commander in chief of the Union forces during the final years of the Civil War and eighteenth president of the United States, was born on April 27, 1822, and died on July 23, 1885, less than one week after completing work on this book.

Caleb Carr is the bestselling author of the novels The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, as well as a critically acclaimed biography of an American mercenary, The Devil Soldier. He writes frequently on military history for The New York Times and MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History, where he is a contributing editor.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library; Reprint edition (May 4, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 736 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375752285
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375752285
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.95 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,744,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,486 in American Civil War Biographies (Books)
- #4,245 in US Presidents
- #60,769 in Memoirs (Books)

Customer Reviews:
2,586 ratings

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5 star		77%
4 star		14%
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2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Derek E Iverson

Great read about Civil War from Grant's own pen.

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2018

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I read this after reading the Grant biography by Chernow. The problems I have with such biographies are: 1) the authors don't have direct access or familiarity to the people or times; 2) the authors have never been in a position of leadership and responsibility, especially during wartime, commensurate with the person that they are writing about. So it seems to me that they can't separate fact from fiction and personal animosity from honest critique, and often engage in Monday morning quarterbacking relative to decisions made in the heat of the moment and the fog of war. So some things written don't really need to be repeated or given great weight; and some extra grace might be extended to people that served in a very sacrificial and beneficial manner. I imaging that such biographers are trying to be honest, without being slavishly flattering or chronically hostile to the subject of their writing. But often I think the subjects are being compared against some impossible standard of perfection and all rumors and innuendos are treated as serious defects of character or duty. So it was a pleasure to read US Grants own reflections on his service in the US Army. He showed himself to be a man of amazing recollection and detail, of leadership and perseverance under fire, and even of a sense of humor. In Grant one can see a man with a strategic vision of bringing the war to a conclusion in favor of the Union, without regard to personal pomp and prestige. He expected his subordinates, including Generals, to be brave leaders of their men from the front. He conferred about plans with his subordinates, and sometimes changed plans based their input, but always acted decisively while expecting his subordinates to act skillfully in carrying out their orders. He was gracious in giving honor to his generals and recognizing their contributions, promoting based on performance. But he was openly disdainful of cowardice in battle or debilitating hesitancy to act in a timely fashion.

Several couple of takeaways:
1) In everything one can see the providence of God at work, providing a man with the necessary quarter master skills to know how to effectively move a 100K man army; in protecting him even though he was always about the front lines leading and guiding his men (many times he had horses killed under him and bullet holes through his clothing). A man that was humble and almost indifferent to signs of rank and privilege, a man who was a faithful confidant and servant of Abraham Lincoln and a friend of the black man. My respect for Grant has soared tremendously!
2) One sees the imperfection of men everywhere and in every time who let personal ambition, slights to their personal honor, prejudices and weakness impact how they act and live. For example Gen. Black Jack Logan who felt slighted when Gen. O. O. Howard was promoted by Sherman over him after the battle of Atlanta and who after the war, became a congressman and was an bitter opponent of Sherman; or Sherman who never felt that the black man could participate in government at the same level as white men or soldiers.
3) War is hell, when ever and where ever it is fought. Many brave men die, others desert or run away, and much property is destroyed.

Interesting factoid, discovered in the Chernow book, was that Mark Twain was his publisher and the man that got Grant to complete his memoirs. Mark Twain developed a marketing plan that employed veterans to sell subscriptions and was able to deliver an initial royalty check of $200K to Grants widow.

133 people found this helpful

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JC

The $9.45 paperback version is too hard to read

Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

Grant's book itself is a classic, but this paperback printing is highly unreadable. The words are jammed on 8 1/2 by 11 pages (?) with very narrow margins, 20 or more words per line, 50 lines per page and no indentation on paragraphs. You have to concentrate too much to keep your place going back and forth across the page. You either get sore eyes or a sore neck. I thought maybe the reason for 8 1/2 x 11 pages was to provide big maps of the battles, but not true.
The maps are small and of poor quality so that they are unreadable. I recommend the book but not this paperback version.

69 people found this helpful

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Vincent Socci

Wonderful work - but Kindle version is incomplete

Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2020

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I'm not usually a fan of memoirs, unless the person writing it has an interesting life or significant role in a relevant part of history. That was certainly the case with Ulysses Grant. I started this book a while back but hadn't finished it. Then the "Grant" miniseries came on the History Channel, and I loved it, so I jumped back into the book. It is really a well-written story with lots of interesting tidbits of Grant's life. The book is captivating reading full of humor, opinion, and interesting historical references. If this were a review of the actual book, I am sure it would be a 5-star review. However, the Kindle version of the book only includes Volume 1, despite the item description clearly stating it was the complete memoirs. That is very upsetting. I bought the complete memoirs and only got half the story. So I am only giving half the 5-star review. Please fix the Kindle version so that others don't have to experience the disappointment I did. I'll have to find another version to get the whole memoir.

36 people found this helpful

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Kate S.

Print cut off

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

Received this item and the print is sideways and off the page! Will be returning!

52 people found this helpful

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Torin SImpson

Bootleg Version of the book

Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2019

Verified Purchase

The cover of the book is concerning. The image is very pixelated. Like someone took an image from the Internet and created their own cover. There are no maps in this version of the book as well. It seems like some sort of knock off version of the book. Don’t waste your money.

42 people found this helpful

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Robert L Helvey

US Grant--A warrior, strategist, great husband, father and President

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018

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What becomes obvious is that US Grant was a man of many dimensions. He was a superb warrior and strategist. He was loyal to his family and his soldiers. He recruited former slaves in areas he liberated. He occasionally drank whiskey excess, but not when his soldiers were in contact with opposing forces in a major operation. He knew how to identify those who were capable of making his strategy work, such as William Tecumseh Sherman. Credit must also go to President Lincoln who moved him up the ranks so that the war could be decisively won in short order. Grant did not shirk from the need to literally destroy the Confederacy rather than compromise. The lesson is that if the US is going to go to war, nothing less than total victory (unconditional surrender as in WWII) should be the objective. If the objective is too expensive, then do not go to war. One can only wonder if his occasional excess with Whiskey was a momentary respite from the awsome destruction he was required to inflict to settle the question about the limits of preserving the nation. This book tells us that US Grant was human, brilliant, and a warrior. I think he knew, as President, our nation needed a low profile President to permit the people to adjust to the new nation that grew out of the struggle of the Civil War.

27 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

J R

Interesting and enlightening

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

First hand recollection of the American civil war. It is (obviously!) written in the style of the time, which makes the reader ‘work’ a bit harder - but this also provides a real understanding of the thinking, and the values, of people who lived through the events. Ulysses Grant was an amazing person, so humble about his own skills and contribution to the Union - but also possessing the confidence and decisiveness sadly lacking in other generals. He was also that rare type of leader who is willing to listen to others, and to recognise their skills when proven on the battlefield. He comes across as a person of real integrity - which is 9n stark contrast to the political leadership in the US today....and how tragic, given the hardships endured, and the loss of life difficult of the civil war, which created the modern nation!

6 people found this helpful

alan denholm

Interesting read and much information.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

You have to read Grants memoir if you are interested in the civil war. General Sherman said the thing about Grant that made him great was "he did not scare worth a damn". Having read this I would have to agree, nothing seems to phase Grant , even when things are looking bad such as Sherman's stalled attack at Missionary Ridge , or after the first day at Shiloh or Gordon's flanking attack at Wilderness or North Anna ,he just has this amazing attitude , we'll sort it not a problem , he has amazing faith in him self and his men.

2 people found this helpful

Tcc

Frustrating - illustrations illegible

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

I bought the kindle version of this book (only option on Amazon). It’s a good read however the illustrations which are mostly battlefield maps are virtually illegible which makes following the narrative very difficult at times. I probably should have known better - the other Kindle book i have in a similar vein (The Battlecry of Freedom, James McPherson) has the same problem. My advice - if you want to avoid frustration buy a hard copy of both books (either new or used)

One person found this helpful

Vynor Hill

Compulsory reading for any student of the civil war.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 14, 2013

Verified Purchase

Fascinating book. Grant was not only a good general he was perceptive and could write well, too. I would have liked to have had another few chapters about his exploits as President. Perhaps he would have written more if he had been allowed to live longer. It is typical of the man that he struggled on and finished the book even though he knew he was near death. I was amused at the way troops on both sides spent so much time ripping up and repairing each other's railway systems - almost light relief to the carnage elsewhere.

3 people found this helpful

Marsh

One of the best insights into this period

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 30, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is an extraordinary memoir of the American Civil War and reconstruction aftermath, written by a relatively little-known US president. His insights into Lincoln's character and leadership, and the leadership (or lack thereof) of generals and politicians, are incisive.

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