Synopses & Reviews
Max Byrd, the renowned author of
Jackson and
Jefferson, brings history to life in this stunning novel set in America’s Gilded Age.
Grant is an unforgettable portrait of a colorful era—and the flawed, iron-willed, mysterious giant at its center.
Ulysses S. Grant pursued a tragic war to its very end. But his final battle starts in 1880, when he loses his race to become the first U.S. President to serve three terms, goes bankrupt, and begins a fight against cancer that will prove to be his greatest challenge. Through journalist Nicholas Trist, readers follow Grant’s journey—and along the way meet Grant’s sworn enemy Henry Adams and Adams’s doomed wife, Clover, the old soldiers Sherman and Sheridan, and the always clever, always scheming Mark Twain. Revealed here are not only the penetrating secrets of our eighteenth president, but the intimate power-brokering that led to the end of Grant’s career, setting the stage for a new era in American history—one defined by politics, not warfare.
“Serious, intricate . . . gripping . . . Byrd is an expert at linking the products of his own imagination with historical facts.”—The New York Times Book Review
“With the license and gifts of a first-rate novelist, Max Byrd has managed in Grant to reveal the man far better than those who have tried before.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“A vibrant, stunning story of Grant’s last years, but best of all, a gripping tale of ‘the reborn nation on the other side of the war.’ ”—Civil War Book Review
“Splendid . . . nothing less than a visit with greatness.”—Associated Press
“Historical fiction doesn’t get any better than this.”—Booklist
Synopsis
Max Byrd, author of "Jefferson" and "Jackson", brings history alive in this portrait of America's Gilded Age and the flawed, iron-willed giant at its center. "Grant" penetrates to the heart of the elusive 18th President, a depiction of an ordinary man driven by history to an extraordinary life--a leader whose political fall marked the end of an American era.
Synopsis
Like no one else writing in America today, Max Byrd, the critically acclaimed author of
Jefferson and
Jackson, makes history come alive. His latest work is an unforgettable portrait of America's Gilded Age and the flawed, iron-willed, mysterious giant at its center who may well be our most uniquely American hero.
Ulysses S. Grant pursued a tragic war to its very end, winning a decisive victory for the North. But his final battle begins in 1880, when he loses his race to become the first U.S. President to serve three terms, goes bankrupt, and begins a fight against cancer that will conquer the conquering hero.
In this stunning portrayal of a man and a nation, Max Byrd carries us from the troubled drawing room of Grant's sworn enemy Henry Adams and his doomed wife Clover, into the tempestuous Chicago convention halls. We meet the old soldiers Sherman and Sheridan, and the always clever, always scheming Mark Twain, the comic gadfly with a fatal business sense.
Grant not only penetrates the secrets of our elusive eighteenth president but exposes the reader to the intimate power-brokering that led to the end of Grant's career, setting the stage for a new era in American history — one defined by politics, not warfare.
About the Author
Max Byrd is the award-winning author of many detective novels, including the Book-of-the-Month Club selection Target of Opportunity, and two bestselling historical novels. An authority on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century American history, he makes his home in Davis, California, where he is at work on a novel about Mary Todd Lincoln.