Changes

Less than ten years later, Grant was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer.  He knew he would not live much longer.  But he was bankrupt, having lost his fortune in an unsuccessful investment company, and his beloved wife Julia was to live another 17 years after Grant died.

Less than ten years later, Grant was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer.  He knew he would not live much longer.  But he was bankrupt, having lost his fortune in an unsuccessful investment company, and his beloved wife Julia was to live another 17 years after Grant died.

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. (He is buried in New York City, along with his wife, at a monument known a "Grant's Tomb.")

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.

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.