UNC Press - U. S. Grant

384 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 69 illus., 3 maps, notes, bibl., index

Civil War America

Cloth

ISBN 978-0-8078-3317-9

Published: November 2009

Paper

ISBN 978-1-4696-0990-4

Available: August 2013

U. S. Grant

American Hero, American Myth

By Joan Waugh

Awards & Distinctions

2010 William Henry Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography, Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York

2009 Jefferson Davis Award, Museum of the Confederacy

2010 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title

A Washington Post Critic's Favorite Book of 2009

At the time of his death, Ulysses S. Grant was the most famous person in America, considered by most citizens to be equal in stature to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Yet today his monuments are rarely visited, his military reputation is overshadowed by that of Robert E. Lee, and his presidency is permanently mired at the bottom of historical rankings. In U. S. Grant, Joan Waugh investigates Grant's place in public memory and the reasons behind the rise and fall of his renown, while simultaneously underscoring the fluctuating memory of the Civil War itself.

About the Author

Joan Waugh is professor of history at the University of California at Los Angeles. She is author or coeditor of three books, including Wars within a War: Controversy and Conflict over the American Civil War.

Reviews

"Exceptionally thoughtful and valuable. . . . [Written in] clear prose that is readily accessible to the serious general reader. . . . [A] fine study."
--Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post

"[A] vigorous and highly readable study"
--The Washington Times

"An engaging study of the making of Ulysses S. Grant's reputation. . . . Waugh convincingly interprets Grant as 'symboliz[ing] both the hopes and the lost dreams' of the Civil War."
--Publishers Weekly

"Waugh finds an interesting range of answers to a simple question: Who was Grant?"-The Associated Press

"Brilliant and unsettling. . . . Part biography, part military history, part social chronicle charting the rise and fall of Grant's reputation, U.S. Grant is a sobering reminder of the vicissitudes of fame. . . . Waugh's well-researched and vibrantly written book . . . restores luster to a lost American hero."
--The Chicago Tribune

"A well researched and scholarly work that Civil War enthusiasts will enjoy."
--Library Journal