A fascinating and insightful examination of the life and times of the victorious Civil War general who became a controversial American president. In U. S. Grant and the American Military Tradition , Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Bruce Catton explores the life and legacy of one of the nation's greatest and most misunderstood heroes before, during, and after the terrible War Between the States that violently split the country in two. Beginning with Ulysses S. Grant's youth in Ohio and his service as a young lieutenant ...
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A fascinating and insightful examination of the life and times of the victorious Civil War general who became a controversial American president. In U. S. Grant and the American Military Tradition , Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Bruce Catton explores the life and legacy of one of the nation's greatest and most misunderstood heroes before, during, and after the terrible War Between the States that violently split the country in two. Beginning with Ulysses S. Grant's youth in Ohio and his service as a young lieutenant under General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican-American War, the story continues through Grant's postwar disgrace, his forced resignation for drinking, and his failures as a citizen farmer and salesman. But after the Civil War broke out, Grant rose from the rank of an unknown solider to commanding general of the US Army, finding redemption as the military savior of the embattled Union. Proving his reputation as America's premiere expert on the Civil War, Catton examines Grant's campaigns in enthralling detail, including Fort Henry; Shiloh; the Siege of Vicksburg, which set the Confederate enemy on the inevitable road to defeat; and Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House, which solidified Grant as a figure of national acclaim. Catton then explores Grant's two-term presidency and final years, casting an illuminating new light on a complex and controversial national figure whose great accomplishments have all too often been downplayed or overlooked.
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Seller's Description:
This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 500grams, ISBN:
Edition:
First Edition [stated], presumed first printing
Publisher:
Little, Brown and Company
Published:
1954
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
16915372543
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Seller's Description:
Good in Good jacket. x, 201, [3] pages. A Note on Sources. Index. DJ has some wear and soiling and is in a plastic sleeve. Signed by Catton on the fep. Some minor page discoloration. This is the first book to be published in The Library of American Biography series edited by Oscar Handlin. Charles Bruce Catton (October 9, 1899-August 28, 1978) was an American historian and journalist, known best for his books concerning the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton featured interesting characters and historical vignettes, in addition to the basic facts, dates, and analyses. His books were researched well and included footnotes. He won a Pulitzer Prize during 1954 for A Stillness at Appomattox, his study of the final campaign of the war in Virginia. After serving briefly with the United States Navy during World War I, Catton was a reporter and editor for The Cleveland News, the Boston American, and the Cleveland The Plain Dealer. From 1926 to 1941, Catton worked for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, for which he served as a Washington, D.C. correspondent. At the start of World War II, Catton was too old for military service. During 1941, he accepted a position as Director of Information for the War Production Board, and later he had similar jobs in the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior. His experiences as a federal employee prepared him to write his first book, The War Lords Of Washington, during 1948. In 1954, Catton accepted the position as founding editor of the new magazine American Heritage. In U. S. Grant and the American Military Tradition, Catton wrote what many consider one of the best short biographies of the general. Derived from a Kirkus review: Bruce Catton's years of research into the history of the Civil War period are producing a substantial body of revealing historical recall. Bruce Catton has a gift for writing military strategy and tactics and making them human and challenging. This stands him in good stead in this book, which compasses the whole of Grant's life, but sparks it with and through the military tradition which gave him stature. The man has gone down in history as an odd combination of things he was not. Bruce Catton does much to correct the picture, showing him as a "campaigner of speed speed and brilliance", "an organizer and administrator as good as the best", "determination and strength of will incarnate", "a hard and straight thinker". From years of discouragement in army life, of failure in civilian, he rose in ten years to the peak, yet in his triumph was the beginning of tragedy. The country was like him; it did not know what to do with victory won. Grant became the symbol rather than the cause of the darkness after the war. His two terms as president would seem to prove the dangers of a military man in the White House. But most of the dilemmas were in the making before he got there. His record is darkened by the "might-have-beens". All in all, while frankly admiring, this biography strikes a happy balance in assessing both the soldier and the man. This fills a real need.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. A nice copy from the library of David Herbert Donald, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his biographies of Charles Sumner and Thomas Wolfe and celebrated biographer of Abraham Lincoln. The interior is clean, no marks of any kind. The binding is tight.