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| | In an attempt to earn some money for his wife to live on after Grant died, he began to work as fast as he could to write his memoirs (autobiography). Grant did not know how many more days he had to live, so he worked as hard as he could, despite being in poor health. His memoirs were a first-person account of his childhood, education, participation in the Mexican War, and especially his experiences as a Union General during the great Civil War battles (except for Gettysburg - Grant was at Vicksburg then). Grant completed his memoirs only a short time before he died in 1885. | | In an attempt to earn some money for his wife to live on after Grant died, he began to work as fast as he could to write his memoirs (autobiography). Grant did not know how many more days he had to live, so he worked as hard as he could, despite being in poor health. His memoirs were a first-person account of his childhood, education, participation in the Mexican War, and especially his experiences as a Union General during the great Civil War battles (except for Gettysburg - Grant was at Vicksburg then). Grant completed his memoirs only a short time before he died in 1885. |
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| − | Grant's memoirs were a masterpiece, considered by many to be the finest works of American non-fiction ever written. Mark Twain, himself one of the greatest American writers, called Grant's memoirs the best "of any general's since Caesar." Edmund Wilson, a prominent 20th century American writer, praised Grant's memoirs by observing that the "reader finds himself ... on edge to know how the Civil War is coming out." Sales of the book generated a fortune of $450,000 for Grant's wife, which (due to inflation) was equivalent to more than $10 million in today's dollars. | + | Grant's memoirs were a masterpiece, considered by many to be the finest work of American non-fiction ever written. Mark Twain, himself one of the greatest American writers, called Grant's memoirs the best "of any general's since Caesar." Edmund Wilson, a prominent 20th century American writer, praised Grant's memoirs by observing that the "reader finds himself ... on edge to know how the Civil War is coming out." Sales of the book generated a fortune of $450,000 for Grant's wife, which (due to inflation) was equivalent to more than $10 million in today's dollars. |
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| − | Grant's memoirs are now freely available on the internet for your own enjoyment and learning, at the Gutenberg website, in an easy-to-download pdf format.<ref>http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4367/4367-pdf/4367-pdf.pdf</ref> Grant's first words to begin his book are, "'Man proposes and God disposes.' There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice." Enjoy skimming or reading this important book, and your homework assignment this week can be based on your thoughts about it. (If you download the pdf, then you can search (by holding the control key down and hitting the "f" key) for terms in the book, such as "Appomattox". | + | Grant's memoirs are now freely available on the internet for your own enjoyment and learning, at the Gutenberg website, in an easy-to-download pdf format.<ref>http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4367/4367-pdf/4367-pdf.pdf</ref> Grant's first words to begin his book are, "'Man proposes and God disposes.' There are but few important events in the affairs of men brought about by their own choice." Enjoy skimming or reading this important book, and your homework assignment this week can be based on your thoughts about it. (If you download the pdf, then you can search for terms in the book (by holding the control key down and hitting the "f" key), such as "Appomattox". |
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| | == Yankee Ingenuity == | | == Yankee Ingenuity == |