Grant

Grant is the most underrated president of the 19th century. This book helps to keep him alive in the memory of 21st century readers :-)

This was the first biography I had read in years. It did not disappoint. Chernow's writing offered a connection with the subject, and he made Grant seem like someone who would sit next to you in the quiet corner of a library and narrate some of his more harrowing experiences. I appreciated the detailed exploration of more than just his Civil War and Presidency periods. The chapters discussing the Mexican War and his travels abroad following his presidency were interesting and worthy inclusions.

While any biography of Grant would be incomplete without reference to his drinking, Chernow takes an almost obsessed approach to highlighting Grant's triumph over the vice, and he uses the alcohol rumors to nearly vilify Grant's opponents. The tone of the drinking refrains grew more didactic and gruff as the narrative progressed. In some instances, the return to drinking stories jarred the flow of the tale.

Probably more like a 4.5, but I couldn't round it down. Most of the lost points were due to sheer length.

I read this book mostly because I really enjoyed Chernow's Hamilton and Washington biographies, and because as a Canadian I haven't had a very good education on the American civil war. This was a fascinating read to learn about that period in (sometimes very minute) detail. It's particularly distressing now to see how close the US got with reconstruction, and how long it took after to get back to the civil rights that were nearly established in that era.

The book clearly takes a pro-Grant point of view, and I can't help but walk away with a similar opinion of an imperfect but still great man. Even looking at historical rankings of US presidents you get an impression of Grant and Lincoln being the best presidents between Polk and Theodore Roosevelt, among a group of downright vicious or incompetent presidents. While Grant was no Lincoln, he fought hard to preserve and adopt Lincoln's principles, and I can respect an awful lot of what he accomplished.

A little too apologetic for Grant's (few) failures with Reconstruction and Native American policies, but otherwise as good as advertised.

Listened to this as an audio book, and I would have loved to have had the hard copy of the book to flip back to from time to time to keep track of some names. I think I would have loved the hardback better. But while I didn't think it was an enthralling as Hamilton, it did change my perspective of Grant and of the Reconstruction. It was informative and interesting but did drag a little.