The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant have been in publication since their original re‐ lease in 1885, just months after Grant’s death from a long bout with throat cancer. In this most recent edition, the editorial staff of John Marszalek, David Nolen, and Louie Gallo has assembled a completely annotated version of this autobiography, a Herculean effort for which we should be grateful.
Grant’s narrative remains a masterpiece: “not only a major piece of war literature, but also a classic of all American literature … the pinnacle of American nonfiction” (p. xxvi). The editorial team maintains as much of Grant’s original prose as possible, only cleaning up typographical errors and errata in the main narrative while acknow‐ ledging when such steps are taken. Grant’s pith, humor, and erudition seep through every page. Much of his humor comes from self-deprecation, which makes the book feel like it was written by an everyman who recognizes his flaws rather than the man often credited with winning the war that divided the United States. He recalls moments from his life, specifically from his time in combat, down to the day that they occurred with precision as to what was said to whom and where. His battle against cancer as he wrote these memoirs makes his recall and his prose even more incredible, and his dedication to completing this task kept him alive as long as possible, succumbing to his dis‐ ease but days after he last put pen to paper on this project. Grant wrote a book in which all readers can find value.
The editorial staff mention in their acknowledgements that they have tried to do as Grant wrote in his memoirs: “Everyone has his superstitions. One of mine is that in positions of great responsibility everyone should do his duty to the best of his ability” (p. 767). With the publication of this work, they have fulfilled the tall order given H-Net Reviews by the man at the heart of this project many years ago.
H-Net Reviews [online link to complete text of review]
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