His friends called him “Sam.” His wife called him “Lyss” or “Victor.” His initials inspired a nickname tied to one of his greatest battlefield triumphs: “Unconditional Surrender Grant.” He quietly told his brother in April of 1861, while walking home after a recruiting meeting in Galena, Illinois, “I am in to do all I can.” And so he did. The unassuming Grant never expected to play a significant role in the Civil War, yet by its end, commanded every soldier in the United States armed force...

From The New York Times #1 bestselling companion series to the Fox historical docudrama, Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies; The Civil War is a pulse-quickening account of the deadliest war in American history.From the birth of the Republican Party to the Confederacy’s first convention, the Underground Railroad to the Emancipation Proclamation, the Battle of Gettysburg to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Bill O’Reilly’s Le...

A main selection in History Book-of-the-Month Club and alternate selection in Military Book-of-the-Month Club. In the spring of 1862, many Americans still believed that the Civil War, "would be over by Christmas." The previous summer in Virginia, Bull Run, with nearly 5,000 casualties, had been shocking, but suddenly came word from a far away place in the wildernesses of Southwest Tennessee of an appalling battle costing 23,000 casualties, most of them during a single day. It was more than...

This dual Civil War biography presents "[a] powerful and illuminating study of a military collaboration that won the war for the Union" (Josiah Bunting III, Washington Post)."We were as brothers," William Tecumseh Sherman said, describing his relationship to Ulysses S. Grant. They were incontestably two of the most important figures in the Civil War, but until now there has been no book about their victorious partnership and the deep friendship that made it...

From a New York Times–bestselling author, "a vivid account of Lincoln's sixteen days at the front in Virginia" (James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom).March 1865: The United States was at a crossroads and, truth be told, Abraham Lincoln was a sick man. I am very unwell, he confided to a close acquaintance. A vast and terrible civil war was winding down, leaving momentous questions for a war-weary presiden...

Civil War buffs, be warned: Webb Garrison's Curiosities of the Civil War may catch you off guard.Packed with obscurities and bizarre anecdotes, it spills over with specifics you've likely never heard. Debated, reenacted, and analyzed, the Civil War has been the subject of countless books, films, and scholarly research—many of them quite repetitious. This nuanced perspective on the war provides a glimpse beyond the bloody battles, casualties, and political conflict. You'll ...

Entering the service on either side at various ranks and from all walks of life, thousands of men commanded as officers over the course of the Civil War. Some rose meteorically to high rank, while others ended their service considerably lower than their initial commission. The select group of forty-four commanders included in this book all served at the highest ranks and have been included for their particular contributions during the war between the states. Each brief biography includes t...

"Of more than one thousand battles fought during the war," William C. Davis notes, "a few have risen to lasting fascination and prominence, some even regarded as 'turning points.' The battles included in this book are those that caused the greatest casualties, produced the greatest feats of heroism, and won or lost major campaigns. They decided the course of the war in the East and the West, set the standard for valor and sacrifice, defined who the American soldier was to be in this war an...

Not since Bruce Catton has there been such an absorbing and exciting biography of Ulysses S. Grant. “Grant is a mystery to me,” said William Tecumseh Sherman, “and I believe he is a mystery to himself.” Geoffrey Perret’s account offers new insights into Grant the commander and Grant the president that would have astonished both his friends, such as Sherman, and his enemies.Based on extensive research, including material either not seen or not used by other writers, this biography e...

Deep in the winter of 1862, on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, two extraordinary military leaders faced each other in an epic clash that would transform them both and change the course of American history forever. Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant had no significant military successes to his credit. He was barely clinging to his position within the Union Army-he had been officially charged with chronic drunkenness only days earlier, and his own troops despised him. His opponent...

Twenty years after Appomattox, stricken by cancer and facing financial ruin, Ulysses S. Grant wrote his Personal Memoirs to secure his family’s future. in doing so, the Civil War’s greatest general won himself a unique place in American letters. His character, intelligence, sense of purpose, and simple compassion are evident throughout this vivid and deeply moving account, which has been acclaimed by readers as diverse asMark Twain, Matthew Arnold, Gertrude Stein, and Edmund Wilso...

Robert E. Lee's life has been regarded as one of great honor and esteem and he has been a man admired for his loyalty, patriotism, and conduct as not only an American, but also a Virginian. And when he made the decision to turn down Lincoln's offer to command a large army of Union Soldiers in the war against the secession, and instead chose to extend his loyalty to the Confederate Army, his intentions were to defend his land and the people in Virginia and not to fight for either secession ...