Ulysses S. Grant: A Biography

Gr 7 Up—These volumes offer life histories of two famous Civil War generals. Grant, born in Ohio to a hard-working family, attended West Point and served in the Mexican War and at posts in the far West. Leaving the army amid rumors of excessive drinking, he worked for his brother's leather tannery in Galena, Illinois, before rejoining the army at the outbreak of the Civil War. Here he achieved his greatest success. After the war he was twice elected president of the United States. Post-presidential life was filled with money worries and a race against death to complete his memoirs. Lee was the scion of a prestigious Southern aristocracy and married into the Washington-Custis family. Also a West Point graduate, his early military career was lackluster. Leading the Confederate army during the Civil War brought him fame and glory, albeit defeat. The lives of both men are now surrounded by myth and hero-worship but the highlight of these books is that the authors strive to illustrate that each one was very human, with outstanding qualities but also with faults and weaknesses. The authors present details of the men's early lives but their main focus is the Civil War. The concluding chapter of each volume is devoted to the years after the war-lots of information condensed into a few pages.—Patricia Ann Owens, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges