Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

great

Book gives commander's view of what happened by providing detailed information for the pivotal battles and not so much for the less strategic. Through all of this, Grant remains humble and gives credit to his staff and unit commanders - truly written by a US Army veteran in its finest tradition.

Maybe because it's in his own words, or maybe because he wrote nost of this while he was dying (an effort to leave money for his wife and children)' or maybe because Mark Twain (Samuel Clemmons) published this for him, or maybe for ALL these reason -- this book totally changed my view of US Grant. How so? The impressed society had doled out, generally, were "he was a drunkard", "a slob", " a failure at business", "near bottom of his class at West Point", "led a corrupt presidential administration", "made a mess of Reconstruction in the South" and on and on. The true story of US Grant is far deeper, more human, and practical. His childhood, his father, his moves, Illinois, militia, Mexican-American War, his loves, marriage, business failures, schooling, military success, his rise, his destiny -- take on a far greater clarity in this book. He becomes, truly, one of the greatest men of his time in a time of great men. Because of this book, I have developed a most kindly view towards US Grant and drew a tear at his passing within. I have come to understand that one of the reasons our Nation has achieved greatness (beyond all nations) is from the inspired lives of great Americans. This book is a MUST READ for any history enthusiast.

A well written detailed account of the Mexican and War of the States. The reader must be willing to wade through a lot of detail. There are many maps that illustrate the many battles - - they are so small that you cannot read the annotation. I woud think that the transcriber would have provided a method to zoom in on different areas.