Rating: 
Summary: A Masterpiece of American Literature
Review: General Grant wrote this book while dying of throat cancer. He had been swindled by a dishonest Wall Street Broker and his trophies and possessions were stripped from him to satisfy the demands of his debtors. Bankrupt, suffering from a terminal illness and never passing a moment without acute pain, he produced this magnificent monument to his greatness. Those who denigrate Grant as a drunkard, butcher, bumbling President need to read this book in order to correct these errant assumptions. It is impossible to read this book and not realize that Grant was an inordinately intelligent man and one hell of a writer.Grant's Memoirs are a deserved classic in American literature and considered the greatest military Memoirs ever penned, exceeding Caesar's Commentaries. Grant wrote as he lived: with clear, concise statements, unembellished with trivialities or frivolities. The only "criticism" the reader might have is that Grant bent over backwards not to wound the feelings of people in the book. He takes swipes at Joe Hooker and Jeff Davis, but what he left unsaid would have been far more interesting. A compelling and logical reason why Grant was so spare in his comments was because he was involved in a race with death. He didn't know how long he could live and therefore, "cut to the chase." Grant's assessments of Lincoln, Sherman, Sheridan and other military leaders are brilliant and engrossing. His style, like the man himself, was inimitable and couldn't be copied. In everyday life, Grant was a very funny man, who liked to listen to jokes and tell them himself. His sense of the absurd was acute. It's no accident that he loved Mark Twain and the two hitched together very well. Twain and Grant shared a similar sense of humor, and Grant's witicisms in the Memoirs are frequent, unexpected and welcome. There are portions where you will literally laugh out loud. Though Grant's Memoirs were written 113 years ago, they remain fresh, vibrant and an intensely good read. I have read them in! their entirity 30 times in my life and I never weary of the style and language that Grant employed. He was a military genius to be sure, but he was also a writer of supreme gifts, and these gifts shine through on every page of this testament to his greatness. All Americans should read this book and realize what we owe to Grant: he preserved the union with his decisive brilliance. In his honor, we should be eternally grateful.
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING GRACE
Review: General Grant's simplicity, clarity and generosity shine through every page. When I thought of his suffering as he wrote to repair his family's fortunes, I had tears in my eyes. Extraordinary! He is so generous to his collegues (exception: Gen Thomas) and even-handed. Gen. Grant *does* take exception to the view that he was "surprised" at Shiloh. I think he was, but I would never dream of saying so. I have read that he never drank when Mrs. Grant was present and that his superiors considered her a secret weapon. Reading General Grant's memoirs makes you feel better and ---yes!----proud to be an American.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent and readable memoirs
Review: Grant here gives a consistently interesting account of his role in many of the major campaigns of the Civil War. His prose is clear and his accounts of battles and strategies quite readable, even to those without particular expertise in military history. He sticks to the story, making few attempts to even scores with his numerous critics in the Army or the press. One thing that should be noted is that these 'personal memoirs' are in many ways remarkably impersonal. There is only a quite brief account of Grant's youth, and his wife, to whom he was apparently quite devoted, is barely mentioned. Grant tells the story of his career as an officer with increasing levels of responsibility, but says little about himself. Also, the memoirs end with the assassination of Lincoln, and do not at all discuss his presidency. The edition I read was lacking in maps, which was a serious drawback, however it was a different edition than the one discussed here. Because so much of the book focuses on the tactics of specific campaigns, a good set of maps is a very valuable addition, and would be advisable to check for in any edition you consider reading or buying.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and readable memoirs
Review: Grant here gives a consistently interesting account of his role in many of the major campaigns of the Civil War. His prose is clear and his accounts of battles and strategies quite readable, even to those without particular expertise in military history. He sticks to the story, making few attempts to even scores with his numerous critics in the Army or the press. One thing that should be noted is that these 'personal memoirs' are in many ways remarkably impersonal. There is only a quite brief account of Grant's youth, and his wife, to whom he was apparently quite devoted, is barely mentioned. Grant tells the story of his career as an officer with increasing levels of responsibility, but says little about himself. Also, the memoirs end with the assassination of Lincoln, and do not at all discuss his presidency. The edition I read was lacking in maps, which was a serious drawback, however it was a different edition than the one discussed here. Because so much of the book focuses on the tactics of specific campaigns, a good set of maps is a very valuable addition, and would be advisable to check for in any edition you consider reading or buying.
Rating: 
Summary: A terrible, boring book
Review: Grant is, as others have said, a lucid writer, and though he might have been a great military mind, he is neither a visionary nor an intellectual. The vast bulk of his memoirs recount the Mexican and Civil wars and thus are interesting primarily from a military standpoint. Anyone seeking more will not only be disappointed, he or she will be extremely bored, as Grant troubles himself to recount most troop movements of the war.
Rating:
Summary: American peace process
Review: Grant thought the war with Mexico was deceitful aggression, but he served America honorably. With Sherman's help he came to understand what the Civil war was about and how it had to be conducted - with unflinching brutality. Grant, a deeply humble and honest person, was intellectually superior to Lincoln. He and Sherman stand head and shoulders above Clausewitz. Grant wanted freed blacks to become dignified, self-supporting citizens and he set in motion a successful program to accomplish that. His compassionate wisdom was ignored and we are still a divided, rancorous and unjust nation as a result. Other nations later paid a terrible price for ignoring Grant's dogged defense of the Union; at Appomatox Lee had almost nothing to surrender since most southern soldiers had deserted. That's what war had become - not tactical brilliance but grinding down the opponents' will. Carnage. Petersburg pointed the way to the stalemate on the Marne; Shiloh reads like the Battle of the Bulge. If European leaders had learned from Grant there would be no disastrous Versailles to reinvigorate German will. Grant's personal reflections should be the basic American schoolbook. Well, maybe the maps could be improved. And the diary of General Pemberton's lady companion might be overlooked.
Rating:
Summary: Great literature
Review: Grant's "Personal Memoirs" was written entirely by U.S. Grant; there was no ghostwriting or heavy handed editing. Grant had a remarkable gift, he could truly write. He had a reputation, as a general, of writing clear, easily understood orders (indeed some are reproduced in footnotes). His Memoirs are written in this same clear style. Grant does not write about his presidency and devotes very few pages to his early life. This book is a military history of the Mexican and Civil Wars. Abraham Lincoln was a congressman at the time of the Mexican War and was opposed to it. Grant, as a young army officer could not oppose that war but, he makes it clear that he thought it was wrong, that the United States was amassing troops in disputed territory between the Rio Grande and Nueces Rivers in order to goad Mexico. In relatively few chapters, Grant gives a good history of that war and he asseses the characteristics of the two great generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott.
His history of his involvement in the Civil War is illuminating but I would suggest that the reader have a working knowledge of the war before reading these Memoirs since Grant writes about campaigns that he was a part of, not about aspects of the war he did not experience first hand. However, he broadens his scope after he replaced Henry Hallek and assumed command of all the armies. At this point, although he made his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, he nontheless writes a much broader history of campaigns in other theaters since he was now in control. Thus, he gives a good account of Sherman leading his troops from Tennessee eastward as they take Atlanta and ultimately march to the sea.
Grant was magnanimous in his judgments of others. In other histories, it is often clear that he was in conflict with others such as General John McClernand, a grandstanding political general who sought to beat Grant to Vicksburg in order to garner the glory. Grant barely hints at this, obviously seeking not to speak ill of McClernand, whereas other historians expose McClernand's shortcomings. Grant is effusive in showing his feelings for those he admired, including Lincoln and Sherman. Grant also, subtly, comes to his own defense against criticisms leveled against him. For example, he posits that he was expecting the rebel attack that became the bloody battle of Shilo and that he was not surprised. Also, as he begins to discuss the Overland campaign,in which he had been accused of being a butcher who put his troops through a meatgrinder, he notes that although the casualties were great, the war was to only last less than a year once this campaign was commenced. This implies that if the war had dragged on longer, more soldiers would have died even if the battles had been less devestating.
The completion of the Memoirs was heroic since Grant was dying of cancer and by its completion, he assured the financial well being of his family. Other than his accomplishments as a general, the completion of his Memoirs may be his finest act.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling, Humble and Well-Written
Review: Grant's memoirs are a must-read for any serious student of the Civil War. While praise is heaped upon Confederate generals such as Lee and Jackson, Grant's legacy has always been a little more uncertain. His reputation has been associated with allegations of drunkenness, and with an apparent unflinching ability to send men to their slaughter which this book helps to dispel. Lincoln loved Grant, as he was the first Union commander who seemed willing to fight it out with Lee's army, and who enjoyed any consistent success. When one considers Grant's predecessors at the helm of the Union army, one can understand Lincoln's enthusiasm. You had McClellan, who never read an exaggerated report of the enemy size he didn't believe; "Fighting Joe Hooker", flanked and embarrassed at Chancellorsville; Burnside, who foolishly sent wave after wave of Union soldiers across the Rappahanock to attack an impregnable stone wall at Fredericksburg; and Pope, who was soundly beaten at Manassas. Meanwhile, Grant caught Abe's attention with his successful siege of Vicksburg in the summer of 1863, as Meade was beating Lee at Gettysburg. Reading Grant's Memoirs is a fascinating experience, as the war, at least that part of it involving Grant, comes to life in the hands of a thoughtful commentator. Grant was obviously there, and he shares informative communications with his inferior officers (such as Sherman) and with the President. Grant sent many men to their doom to be sure, (the Wilderness campaign comes to mind as being especially bloody and ineffective), but overall you get the sense that Grant was respected by his men, who were happy to be marching forward and not backwards after a battle. He restored a sense of pride and accomplishment that was sorely lacking in the Union rank and file. He gave cogent reasons in his memoirs for the actions undertaken, sometimes admitting mistakes in humble fashion, and sometimes explaining why a siege would accomplish the same overall goal without unnecessary bloodshed. My only regret is that Grant didn't live long enough to write a companion memoir about his presidency, which was clearly outside the scope of this book. Readers who have gotten this far in the Amazon review process are no doubt aware that a broke Grant, stricken with painful throat cancer, wrote out his Memoirs of the Civil War right up until the end of his life to provide financially for his family, finishing the book days before he died. We should all be grateful that he was able to preserve these pages for prosperity, they are truly a model of military memoirs that I consider an extremely rewarding reading experience. When one considers the circumstances in which Grant composed this work, the end result is nothing short of miraculous.
Rating:
Summary: Natural progression from Shaara books to Grant.
Review: Having never been much interested in the Civil War before reading "The Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara I have become entranced by first "trial by fire" of democracy. To understand why we do not live like the people in Kosovo, Chile or Jakarta you must understand how close we came in the 1860's.
Rating:
Summary: A great Book to Read Aloud
Review: I am so pleased to find a book "worth reading" which is great to read aloud, and fun too, It is hard to find books to read to my father(who is blind), that we both like. Grant had a wry sense of humour, as well as a clear mode of writing. I am almost totally ignorant of the Mexican War of 1845; but I'm enjoying the journey Ulysses takes me on.
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