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A review by treylusk
Grant by Ron Chernow
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
2.5
Ron Chernow took his love for US grant and turned it up to 11. The book was so positive on the man and his career that it bordered on propaganda. It is written as a straightforward biography and not an analysis, but it has all the angles of an analysis without much of the charm and character other biographies have had.
This book could as well have been titled "Grant's drinking" because for every one war story there were 25 paragraphs dedicated to differing accounts of presidential benders.
It also did a poor job of explaining the political world that grant existed in using terms like war democrats and whig and expecting the reader to understand meaningfully the distinctions. To a Layman like me it is difficul to understand what about the democrats in the 1860s would draw union generals like Mcclellen and the author did not provide meaningful insights into that.
The book is thorough otherwise and I appreciate taking time to get Grant's view on many of the issues of the time
This book could as well have been titled "Grant's drinking" because for every one war story there were 25 paragraphs dedicated to differing accounts of presidential benders.
It also did a poor job of explaining the political world that grant existed in using terms like war democrats and whig and expecting the reader to understand meaningfully the distinctions. To a Layman like me it is difficul to understand what about the democrats in the 1860s would draw union generals like Mcclellen and the author did not provide meaningful insights into that.
The book is thorough otherwise and I appreciate taking time to get Grant's view on many of the issues of the time
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Death