Ulysses S. Grant's Personal Memoirs is recognized as one of the classics of military literature, not just in American letters but in all of history. Yet it might not have been written at all, except for the tragic circumstances that Charles Bracelen Flood recounts so concisely in Grant's Final Victory.
In the spring of 1884, Grant was doing as well as any former president might hope for: he'd taken his wife on a two-year world tour after leaving the White House and had settled in New York City, where he served as a partner in a Wall Street investment firm. Then he was hit with two disasters in quick succession: the firm's other founding partner absconded with all the funds, leaving Grant and his family near-broke, and shortly afterward Grant was diagnosed with throat cancer. Though he had always expressed reluctance in writing about his Civil War experiences, Grant agreed to write a series of articles, which he would then expand into a book, in order to clear his debts and provide for his family's future.
Flood, the author of a previous book about Grant's role in the Civil War, synthesizes a wide range of personal recollections, newspaper accounts and other historical sources into a modestly straightforward account of Grant's effort to finish his memoir before succumbing to his disease. But it's not just the story of Grant's interactions with his family and his publishers (including Mark Twain). Flood also considers how the news of Grant's impending death affected the nation; the expressions of love and respect from American citizens, including Confederate veterans, offer some of the book's most touching details. --Ron Hogan, founder of Beatrice.com