Grant's Final Victory: Ulysses S. Grant's Heroic Last Year

Resumen del libro

Prominent historian and biographer, Charles Bracelen Flood, reveals the last year of General Grant's life and the portrait of a man, who despite his flaws, had great courage and determination, an abiding love of family and country, and an unshakeable vision for reconciling a divided nation.

Shortly after losing all of his wealth in a terrible 1884 swindle, Ulysses S. Grant learned he had terminal throat and mouth cancer. Destitute and dying, Grant began to write his memoirs to save his family from financial ruin.

In his race against the fatal illness Grant would work on some days from morning to night, writing ten thousand words in a day, despite suffering increasing pain. The New York Times printed regular coverage of Grant's failing health and the progress of his memoirs, and letters poured in from across the country to express the American people's admiration and support. Twenty years after his respectful and generous demeanor shown toward Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, people in both the North and the South came to know Grant as the brave, honest man he was, now using his famous determination in this final effort. He finished his memoirs just three days before he died in July 1885.

Published after his death by his friend Mark Twain, Grant's Personal Memoirs would become an instant bestseller, restoring his family's financial health and, more importantly, helping to cure the nation of the bitter discord that had lingered since the end of the Civil War. To this day, his memoirs are ranked among the best ever written by a former military leader and president.

In this masterful narrative, historian Charles Bracelen Flood brings to life the dramatic last year of General Grant, a tragic and inspiring story of hope and determination.
Contributors

Charles Bracelen Flood is the author of twelve previous books, including the bestselling Lee: The Last Years and Grant and Sherman, which Salon.com named one of the "Top 12 Civil War Books Ever Written." He is a past president of PEN American Center and has served on the governing bodies of the Authors League and the Authors Guild. He lives in Kentucky.