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johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
3.0
I know plenty of Hamilton: The Musical fans who started Chernow’s mammoth bio. But did anyone other than Lin-Manuel Miranda finish it? There’s no worry that the even-more-behemothy Grant will be a hip-hop hit. (“My name is Ulysses S. Grant”?) This whopper—1,000 pages of Civil War skirmishes, Reconstruction politics & the personal triumphs & (frequent) failings of the maligned president—wants to correct the record that Grant was a drunk, a battlefield butcher & a corrupt chief exec. It’d prefer history remember his support of civil rights & disdain for the KKK. All the Grant you’ll ever need.
mrblackbean11's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing. I was in rapt attention for the 48 hours this audiobook took. I highly recommend. Extremely well written and I appreciate the author’s style - it was fair, informative, and engaging.
jedwardsusc's review against another edition
3.0
For the most part, I enjoyed the book. There's a lot of detail, and I'm not equipped to judge the accuracy of the research. I don't have a deep understanding of Grant or the Civil War, and I'm more ignorant of reconstruction than I have any right to be.
My main critique is that Chernow seems overly committed to reading every Grant choice and misstep in the most positive light. Many of those missteps were merely personal, but others had significant consequences for later generations. Some of that may just be correcting for previous, negative narratives, but it makes Grant seem more one-dimensional than I would expect from a biography this detailed.
My main critique is that Chernow seems overly committed to reading every Grant choice and misstep in the most positive light. Many of those missteps were merely personal, but others had significant consequences for later generations. Some of that may just be correcting for previous, negative narratives, but it makes Grant seem more one-dimensional than I would expect from a biography this detailed.
aaronboyes19's review against another edition
5.0
Another excellent biography from Ron Chernow. The life of Ulysses S. Grant is fascinating, particularly his rise during the Civil War.
cltnbutcher's review against another edition
5.0
It sure took a while, but it was worth it.
There’s a lot more to Grant than I had realized and his story makes for a fascinating book. I especially enjoyed the post-war Presidential years, as I knew very little of that.
Chernow can be dry at times, so it can be tedious. Great read and a complicated and ultimately, I think, great man.
There’s a lot more to Grant than I had realized and his story makes for a fascinating book. I especially enjoyed the post-war Presidential years, as I knew very little of that.
Chernow can be dry at times, so it can be tedious. Great read and a complicated and ultimately, I think, great man.
caseyulrich555's review against another edition
4.0
It was interesting reading about the the arc of his life. I’m not as big of a war buff, but if you are there’s a long chunk on that. Thats where I fell off for a while. Interesting hearing about the political experience in office, the strengths and shortcomings.
Many summer hours gardening were passed listening. Long book not for everyone. There are probably shorter books if interested in the war history alone or the politics alone.
Many summer hours gardening were passed listening. Long book not for everyone. There are probably shorter books if interested in the war history alone or the politics alone.
jdintr's review against another edition
4.0
Chernow will be rightly criticized for the level of sympathy he shows to Grant in this book. He goes out of his way, at times, to discredit the rumors of drunkenness that dogged Grant from his (rightful) dismissal from the Army to his death bed, where he refused even a taste of whiskey to numb the pain of throat cancer. He minimizes Grant's culpability in the corruption of his administration and the outright pyramid scheme that bankrupted him--and thousands of others--two years before his death.
Grant was a man whose blunders were almost as monumental as his achievements--saving the Union, pursuing equality and voting rights for African Americans, and becoming as president a man known for pursuing peace and laying the groundwork for international reconciliation through the United Nations.
Chernow's book is thick. Deservedly so. Grant accomplished a lot. In his day, he was seen as equal to Washington as a general (and as savior of the country). In the 130 years since his death, he has been eclipsed by the pernicious Lost Cause Movement that successfully kept the values of the Confederacy alive. Even amidst the country's strong reaction to the Charlottesville protests, I would venture that there are more statues of Robert E Lee throughout the country than of the man who ground Lee's army into dust, who leapt from victory to victory.
I guess the greatest contribution that Chernow makes to my knowledge of Grant is Grant's patriotism. It is clear that, within months of the beginning of the Civil War, Grant grasped the patriotic ideals that underpinned the word, "Union." Though married into a slave-owning family, Grant's anti-slavery views were held before the war and strengthened throughout it.
As general of the armies in the years after the war, it was Grant who kept Lincoln's ideals alive, even as Andrew Johnson retreated from ideological gains made possible from the war.
It was tough to read about Reconstruction in this book. Terrorists carrying confederate flags and dressed in white organized in the South and sought to intimidate newly enfranchised African Americans and liberal white Republicans. Chernow's descriptions of the violence, and the resolute efforts to rewrite the ending of the Civil War, are depressing, even as my own southern community fills once again with confederate flags and gun clubs in the wake of Obama's presidency. This section left me profoundly depressed for my region and my country.
Read this book! You will learn a lot, as I did, and you will become reacquainted with one of the five or six foremost Americans in history.
Grant was a man whose blunders were almost as monumental as his achievements--saving the Union, pursuing equality and voting rights for African Americans, and becoming as president a man known for pursuing peace and laying the groundwork for international reconciliation through the United Nations.
Chernow's book is thick. Deservedly so. Grant accomplished a lot. In his day, he was seen as equal to Washington as a general (and as savior of the country). In the 130 years since his death, he has been eclipsed by the pernicious Lost Cause Movement that successfully kept the values of the Confederacy alive. Even amidst the country's strong reaction to the Charlottesville protests, I would venture that there are more statues of Robert E Lee throughout the country than of the man who ground Lee's army into dust, who leapt from victory to victory.
I guess the greatest contribution that Chernow makes to my knowledge of Grant is Grant's patriotism. It is clear that, within months of the beginning of the Civil War, Grant grasped the patriotic ideals that underpinned the word, "Union." Though married into a slave-owning family, Grant's anti-slavery views were held before the war and strengthened throughout it.
As general of the armies in the years after the war, it was Grant who kept Lincoln's ideals alive, even as Andrew Johnson retreated from ideological gains made possible from the war.
It was tough to read about Reconstruction in this book. Terrorists carrying confederate flags and dressed in white organized in the South and sought to intimidate newly enfranchised African Americans and liberal white Republicans. Chernow's descriptions of the violence, and the resolute efforts to rewrite the ending of the Civil War, are depressing, even as my own southern community fills once again with confederate flags and gun clubs in the wake of Obama's presidency. This section left me profoundly depressed for my region and my country.
Read this book! You will learn a lot, as I did, and you will become reacquainted with one of the five or six foremost Americans in history.
deelightfull's review against another edition
4.0
It was loooooong, but good. As I was listening, I enjoyed it, but sometimes had a hard time coming back to it, taking breaks with shorter form audio. I have a BA in history, and learned plenty. However, I'm not a fan of military history, and if you are or you aren't, be aware that this book is not that. The progress of the Civil War factors in, OF COURSE, but there's not a whole lot of detail on who flanked left and who ambushed who, etc. I found the presidential history, which I knew very little of, much more interesting.