Synopses & Reviews
From respected historian John S. D. Eisenhower comes a surprising portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman, the Civil War general whose path of destruction cut the Confederacy in two, broke the will of the Southern population, and earned him a place in history as the first modern general.” Yet behind his reputation as a fierce warrior was a sympathetic man of complex character. A century and a half after the Civil War, Sherman remains one of its most controversial figuresthe soldier who brought the fight not only to the Confederate Army, but to Confederate civilians as well. Yet Eisenhower, a West Point graduate and a retired brigadier general (Army Reserves), finds in Sherman a man of startling contrasts, not at all defined by the implications of total war.” His scruffy, disheveled appearance belied an unconventional and unyielding intellect. Intensely loyal to superior officers, especially Ulysses S. Grant, he was also a stalwart individualist. Confident enough to make demands face-to-face with President Lincoln, he sympathetically listened to the problems of newly freed slaves on his famed march from Atlanta to Savannah. Dubbed no soldier” during his years at West Point, Sherman later rose to the rank of General of the Army, and though deeply committed to the Union cause, he held the people of the South in great affection.
In this remarkable reassessment of Shermans life and career, Eisenhower takes readers from Shermans Ohio origins and his fledgling first stint in the Army, to his years as a businessman in California and his hurried return to uniform at the outbreak of the war. From Bull Run through Shermans epic March to the Sea, Eisenhower offers up a fascinating narrative of a military genius whose influence helped preserve the Unionand forever changed war.
Review
Praise for American General
“The blood-and-thunder of the Civil War comes alive in John S. D. Eisenhower's American General, a brilliantly written and researched biography of William Tecumseh Sherman. Eisenhower's delineation on Sherman's Scorched Earth strategy is a must read. Highly recommended!” —Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University, CBS News Historian, and New York Times Bestselling Author of The Wilderness Warrior
“John S. D. Eisenhower, who knows something about generals and soldiering, has written a marvelous biography of a much misunderstood man. Yes, Sherman did say ‘War is Hell and made it so waging ‘Total War against the South. But he was at the same time a shrewd, colorful, brave man, and Eisenhower brings him vividly to life.” —Evan Thomas, New York Times Bestselling Author of Ike's Bluff and Sea of Thunder
“Veteran soldier, former general, acclaimed historian, renowned military biographer, and son of America's preeminent twentieth century general, John S. D. Eisenhower brings William Tecumseh Sherman to life as only he can. The eminently readable American General takes you beyond the standard-issue portrayals of Sherman—avenging angel for the North, devastating demon to the South—and reintroduces you to the man himself. On the 150th anniversary of Sherman's fiery March to the Sea, this book will help you understand the man behind the legend.” —Daniel P. Bolger, Author of Why We Lost: A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars
“Only U.S. Grant could have written a truer portrait of William Tecumseh Sherman. John S. D. Eisenhower had Grant's gifts for lucidity, exactness and concision, as well as keen military insight.” —Sidney Blumenthal, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man
Synopsis
From New York Times bestselling author H. W. Brands, a masterful biography of the Civil War general and two-term president who saved the Union twice, on the battlefield and in the White House, holding the country together at two critical turning points in our history.Ulysses Grant rose from obscurity to discover he had a genius for battle, and he propelled the Union to victory in the Civil War. After Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the disastrous brief presidency of Andrew Johnson, America turned to Grant again to unite the country, this time as president. In Brands's sweeping, majestic full biography, Grant emerges as a heroic figure who was fearlessly on the side of right. He was a beloved commander in the field but willing to make the troop sacrifices necessary to win the war, even in the face of storms of criticism. He worked valiantly to protect the rights of freedmen in the South; Brands calls him the last presidential defender of black civil rights for nearly a century. He played it straight with the American Indians, allowing them to shape their own fate even as the realities of Manifest Destiny meant the end of their way of life. He was an enormously popular president whose memoirs were a huge bestseller; yet within decades of his death his reputation was in tatters, the victim of Southerners who resented his policies on Reconstruction. In this page-turning biography, Brands now reconsiders Grant's legacy and provides a compelling and intimate portrait of a man who saved the Union on the battlefield and consolidated that victory as a resolute and principled political leader.
About the Author
H. W. BRANDS is the Dickson Allen Anderson Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin. A New York Times bestselling author, he was the finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography for The First American and again for Traitor to His Class. His website is www.hwbrands.com.