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Ron Chernow: Grant (2018)

1485 pages

English language

Published April 4, 2018

ISBN:
978-1-4328-4959-7
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OCLC Number:
1008771058

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4 stars (1 review)

Ulysses S. Grant's life has typically been misunderstood. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but brutal Union general of the Civil War. But these stereotypes don't come close to capturing him, as Chernow shows in his masterful biography, the first to provide a complete understanding of the general and president whose fortunes rose and fell with dizzying speed and frequency.

8 editions

A humanizing look at a towering figure in history

4 stars

Grant's legacy seems to have waned and waxed as we collectively grapple with the era he shaped—the American Civil War and Reconstruction. Chernow portrays Grant as a man who remained relatively unchanged by pressure, stress, fame, and power. While it sometimes resulted in trusting people that could not be trusted, it also let him wage a new kind of war and persevere in protecting the lives and livelihoods of freed black citizens. Chernow's biography of Grant is accessible and readable, and if he shows some preference for his subject, it is quite understandable.

Subjects

  • Politics and government
  • Generals
  • Presidents
  • United States
  • United States. Army
  • Biography
  • History

Places

  • United States