A biography of Ulysses S. Grant tracing his rise from failure and alcoholism to Union military genius in the Civil War and a presidency defined by his fierce, embattled defense of Reconstruction and Black civil rights.
Books mentioned in Grant (21)
The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain: “Grant had plenty of time to read, perusing The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain and reading aloud excerpts from Homer's Odyssey to Julia.”
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: “Charles L. Webster and Company's sole mission, at first, was to publish Huckleberry Finn and other Twain works.”
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: “Harriet Beecher Stowe collected material from him for Uncle Tom's Cabin; Grant's memoir sales later rivaled "that other literary sensation of the nineteenth century, Uncle Tom's Cabin."”
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne: “A few years earlier, Jules Verne had published Around the World in Eighty Days, lending new glamour to extended foreign travel.”
Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace: “He had worked as a lawyer in Indiana and served in the state legislature; in after years he would distinguish himself as the author of Ben-Hur.”
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: “When he grew bored with playing cards on the boat, Julia inquired if he had ever read Victor Hugo's Les Misérables.”
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens: “He was one of the greatest readers I ever saw. Grant retained special affection for Dickens, especially The Pickwick Papers, Dombey and Son, Little Dorrit, and Oliver Twist.”
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens: “Grant retained special affection for Dickens, especially The Pickwick Papers, Dombey and Son, Little Dorrit, and Oliver Twist.”
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens: “Grant retained special affection for Dickens, especially The Pickwick Papers, Dombey and Son, Little Dorrit, and Oliver Twist.”
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens: “Grant retained special affection for Dickens, especially The Pickwick Papers, Dombey and Son, Little Dorrit, and Oliver Twist.”
The Life of George Washington by John Marshall: “Drawn to history and politics, he read The Life of George Washington and avidly followed the newspapers.”
Elements of Military Art and Science by Henry Wager Halleck: “His textbook Elements of Military Art and Science was virtually required reading at West Point, and he had also translated from French into English a four-volume biography of Napoleon.”
The Odyssey by Homer: “Grant had plenty of time to read, perusing The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain and reading aloud excerpts from Homer's Odyssey to Julia.”
Iliad by Homer: “She loved the Iliad and the Odyssey and anything that savored of mythology and history.”
Commentaries by Julius Caesar: “Grant was overjoyed when Twain told him his memoirs would stand alongside Caesar's Commentaries for purity, simplicity, and fairness and qualify as "the best purely narrative literature in the language."”
Richard III by William Shakespeare: “After seeing him in Richard III, he became smitten with Edwin Booth's exceptional talent, which far outpaced that of his brother, John Wilkes.”
Hancock's Political Achievements: “Mocking Hancock as an inexperienced political lightweight, Republicans printed up a pamphlet entitled "Hancock's Political Achievements," a work that contained nothing but blank pages.”
Specimen Days by Walt Whitman: “Book epigraph, attributed "WALT WHITMAN, Specimen Days" — Whitman's reflection on Grant ("Seems to me it transcends Plutarch... the gods, the destinies, seem to have concentrated upon him") opens Chernow's biography.”
Three Years with Grant by Sylvanus Cadwallader: “Fred Grant encouraged him to write... When the book was belatedly published in 1955, the historian Bruce Catton greeted it as "one of the great books of the Civil War."”
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant: “The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, widely viewed as a masterpiece, is probably the foremost military memoir in the English language”