The quality of chernows book, in addition to the fame of its pulitzer prizewinning author, should continue the. Grant, chernows mustread of 2017, debunks southern. A conversation with pulitzer prize winner and biographer of alexander hamilton, george washington and john d. A life and alexander hamilton, sets his literary sites on ulysses s. He has doubts about the musical potential of his latest subject, ulysses s. Ron chernows bestselling books include the house of morgan, winner of the national book award. Pulitzer prize winner ron chernow returns with a sweeping and dramatic portrait of one of our most compelling generals and presidents, ulysses s. I tried to argue in the book that as a president grant. I felt blessed by the existence of horace porters campaigning with grant. I liked the fact that ron chernow brings to life the emotions, decisions, setbacks, and successes of ulysses s. Why ron chernows grant is a brilliant book that will. Chernow s grant is meticulously researched, wellwritten, with an easy style and flow that make a biography feel less like a lecture and more like an intimate conversation. Lionstate and appian way have acquired movie rights to grant, the new bestselling ron chernow biography of ulysses s. Towering general of revolution to towering general of civil war.
It was more than 600 pages long, so im suffering from a bit of grant fatigue and i was wondering if you thought it was worth the effort to read chernows book. In this sympathetic biography, the author continues the revival of grant s reputation. Grant is a largerthanlife figure, and chernow has no difficulty crafting a. As late as april 1861, when the american civil war broke out, ulysses s. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the. Grants book, never out of print and viewed as an american masterpiece, was alastditch effort to ensure his familys financial security after he had been swindled out of his investments. Chernow asserts that both grant s command of the overland campaign and his presidency have been seen in an undeservedly negative light. Grant s career will learn something from chernows fascinating and comprehensive biography. Ron chernows new biography, grant, is kindly, just, and now and then hagiological, a patient character study that ambles along in grant s own historical time rural ohio boyhood, west point. A life, which received the pulitzer prize for biography. Chernows 2004 biography of one of americas most brilliant, most misunderstood politicians was a smash bests. His first book, the house of morgan, won the national book award, washington.
At nearly 1,000 pages, chernow delivers a deeply researched, everythingyoueverwantedtoknow biography, but few readers will regret the experience. Recently ron chernow was asked on the cbs morning news program if his new biography, grant could become a broadway musical as his previous book hamilton. Arriving at a moment when excitable individuals and hysterical mobs are demonstrating crudeness in assessing historical figures, chernows book is a tutorial on measured, mature judgment. History has given the green light to grant, a sixpart docuseries based on pulitzer prizewinning author ron chernows bestselling biography of ulysses s. Grant is a gift to a nation much in need of measured judgments about it past. I thought i knew a lot about the civil war and the reasons it was fought, but the real answer is a lot more complicated. Ron chernow on grant at the 2018 national book festival youtube.
Oct 26, 2017 which book was most helpful to you in working on your biography of grant. The book reflected chernow s continued interest in financial history, especially when shaped by compelling and influential individuals. For those seeking a shorter treatment, turn to josiah buntings ulysses s. Chernows portrait of grant as a work of literary craftsmanship, if not. Appian way and lionsgate producing feature film based on chernows book. Ron chernows epic grant is a masterful piece of scholarship which succeeds in bringing this muchmaligned and misunderstood president into focus and making him indomitable on the battlefield, incorruptible with respect to rights for african americans, and naively gullible.
It comes now for ron chernow, the author of grant, a new account of the civil war general and twoterm president. His presidency was known for corruption, scandal, and booze. As someone who loves history, i have a terrible confession to make. Sep 28, 2017 ron chernow in his brooklyn heights home. The book remained on the new york times best seller list for 16 weeks. From his early days as a scrappy lowerclass child, to his midlife drunkery and business failures, to his triumphant victories in the civil war and presidency, chernow covers it all.
Oct 10, 2017 in this sympathetic biography, the author continues the revival of grants reputation. Grant coming out grant, the first question everyone thought of was whether it would turn into another hamilton. Chernows grant is a gift to a nation much in need of measured judgments about its past. Ron chernow discusses grant at the 2018 national book festival. Grant on the cover of ron chernows overstuffed but essential new biography has been made prettier than its untouched version. The writer is joseph rose who is the author of grant under fire. Dec 08, 2017 ron chernow, the pulitzer prize winning author of washington. Ron chernow is the prizewinning author of six previous books and the recipient of the 2015 national humanities medal.
This is a good time for ron chernows fine biography of ulysses s. Why ron chernows grant is a brilliant book that will never. Of the books on grant written in the past few decades, chernows grant is the best and comes closest to presenting a full picture of a man historians have found difficult to decipher. Pulitzer prize winning ron chernow presents one of the worlds greatest citizens, ulysses s. Ron chernow paints a farsighted president in new biography after the massive success of his last book, which inspired an awardwinning broadway musical, pulitzer prize. Ulysses grant author ron chernow appears at his home in the brooklyn borough of new york on april 18, 2011. To learn more about grant as president, get my most recent book, u.
Grant coming out, the first question everyone thought of was whether it would turn into another hamilton. Ron chernows grant is popular history at its best the. There sits ron chernows biography of ulysses simpson grant, which no reader will wish were shorter than its 1,074 pages. Ron chernows biography on ulysses grant october 18, 2017 nearly all authors recognize the importance of a books first line as do most readers. Grant so far at over 900 pagers but it is far from the best. Philadelphia inquirer masterful and often poignant.
Grant has been chosen by the new york times as one of the ten best books of 2017. A dramatic portrait of one of americas most compelling generals and presidents, ulysses s. The moment it was announced that ron chernow had a new book about ulysses s. Grant, a union general during the civil war, served two terms as president, from 1869 to 1877. Its a safe bet that ron chernows monumental new biography. Grant is a largerthanlife figure, and chernow has no difficulty crafting a fascinating and immensely readable and immense book. In a new book, ron chernow attempts to rehabilitate it. Ron chernows grant is popular history at its best a new biography of the 18th president manages to avoid the pitfalls of what has become a highly lucrative genre. Ron chernow is an american writer, journalist, historian, and biographer, as well as the author of alexander hamilton, which inspired the hit musical. A chat with ron chernow, americas biographer and winner of. That improbable rise is at the heart of ron chernows masterful and often poignant biography, a 1,000page brick of a book that nevertheless moves quickly. Its no coincidence that chernows book clocks in at more than 1,000 pages.
Chernows book is a relentless artillery barrage of primary sources aimed at proving his several theses. Chernow explained his transition from writing about george washington to grant. Rockefeller, nominated for the national book critics circle award. Upcoming releases oct 18, 2017 ron chernows grant is popular history at its best a new biography of the 18th president manages to avoid the pitfalls of what has become a highly lucrative genre. The author of numerous lengthy biographies, most notably hamilton, has written a 1,074page book on ulysses s. Theres certainly a vast treasuretrove of material in grant, a stupendous new biography by pulitzer prizewinning author ron chernow, whose book alexander hamilton inspired the hit musical. A life won the pulitzer prize for biography, and alexander hamilton the inspiration for the broadway musicalwon. History greenlights grant tv documentary based on ron. Oct 10, 2017 the moment it was announced that ron chernow had a new book about ulysses s.
To historians of the gilded age, grant as president was the creature of robber barons. Grant upon its hardcover release in 2017, the gray lady hired an enthusiastic if infrequent freelance writer named. Money magazine reading ron chernows new biography, a truly mammoth examination of the life of ulysses s. And historians of reconstruction, chernow complains, have assailed grant from every angle. Oct 05, 2017 the details of grants life are subject to the confusion that engulfs the period too. The book closes with a sketch of mark twain and william t sherman reminiscing over drinks after grants funeral in new york city. Oct 06, 2017 woolf s question hovers over all biographers, even the most accomplished. By now, its well known that ron chernows biography hamilton inspired the megahit broadway show. History greenlights grant documentary based on ron. In 2011, chernow signed a deal to write a comprehensive biography on ulysses s.
In ron chernows grant, an american giants makeover. Chernows book in my estimation is a helluva book an important book. It sounds a lot like chernows book in some ways light on the military stuff, etc. Chernow s detailed book examines both issues in a detail i have not seen in earlier biographies, and he essentially acquits grant.
Arriving at a moment when excitable individuals and hysterical mobs are. White that means to correct what used to be the conventional. All too often he is caricatured as a chronic loser and an inept businessman, or as the triumphant but. Ron chernows biography on ulysses grant civil war chat. Grant, the 18th president of the united states, written by american historian and biographer ron chernow. Grants book, never out of print and viewed as an american masterpiece, was a lastditch effort to ensure his familys financial security after he had been swindled out of his investments. Grant is yet another book like last years american ulysses, by ronald c. Ron chernow probes the inner life of a reticent conqueror.
Chernows indispensable book, which attempts to see grants life as a triumph, is also steeped in tragedy. Chernows 2004 biography of one of americas most brilliant, most misunderstood politicians was a smash bestseller, and moreover, was famously adapted into the instantly legendary broadway musical by linmanual miranda. Ron chernows grant named one of ten best books of 2017. Time called it one of the great american biographies. There are things about grant the book that i both liked and disliked. The book closes with a sketch of mark twain and william t sherman reminiscing over drinks after grants funeral. Pulitzer prize winner ron chernow returns with a sweeping and. Grant, by pulitzer prize winner ron chernow, author of the book on which the astonishing musical hamilton is based. Chernow s book is perhaps the largest and longest biography of u. Chernow gives us a nearly complete view of the man behind the beard and the cigar, and it is not always pretty. Despite his opening and somewhat selfserving remarks, his book does not really reveal any deeper insights into the general than the other modern biographies by mcfeeley, simpson,perret, white or even catton a dated source but used often by chernow. Wikimedia commons grant, by ron chernow penguin, 1,104 pp. In ron chernows grant, an american giants makeover continues. I learned a lot about grant and the aftermath of the civil war, which we still wage.
We can, for example, often identify a previously read book merely by seeing its first line. Grant, one is struck by the humanity both the pitiful frailty and the incredible strength of its subject. Grant, chernows mustread of 2017, debunks southern mythmaking. Even those who think they are familiar with ulysses s. As he began work on what became a thousandpage biography of ulysses s. Grant was the titanic genius of the civil war, the greatest champion of reconstruction. Grant, ron chernow knew he was joining a very old argument. Nov 05, 2017 at hand is a masterpiece of biography, the best of the genre that i have encountered in almost seven decades of reading.
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