Ron Chernow is the prizewinning author of six previous books and the recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal. His first book, The House of Morgan, won the National Book Award, Washington: A Life won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, and Alexander Hamilton—the inspiration for the Broadway musical—won the George Washington Book Prize. A past president of PEN America, Chernow has been the recipient of eight honorary doctorates. He resides in Brooklyn, New York.
“This is a good time for Ron Chernow’s fine biography of Ulysses S.
Grant to appear . . . As history, it is remarkable, full of
fascinating details sure to make it interesting both to those with
the most cursory knowledge of Grant’s life and to those who have
read his memoirs or any of several previous biographies . . . For
all its scholarly and literary strengths, this book’s greatest
service is to remind us of Grant’s significant achievements at the
end of the war and after, which have too long been overlooked and
are too important today to be left in the dark . . . As Americans
continue the struggle to defend justice and equality in our
tumultuous and divisive era, we need to know what Grant did when
our country’s very existence hung in the balance. If we still
believe in forming a more perfect union, his steady and courageous
example is more valuable than ever.” —Bill Clinton, New York Times
Book Review
“Grant is vast and panoramic in ways that history buffs will love.
Books of its caliber by writers of Chernow’s stature are rare, and
this one qualifies as a major event . . . . Chernow is clearly out
to find undiscovered nobility in his story, and he succeeds; he
also finds uncannily prescient tragedy. There are ways in which
Grant’s times eerily resemble our own . . . Indispensable.” —The
New York Times
“Chernow tells all this rapidly and well; his talent is suited to
Grant’s story . . . He is extraordinarily good on what could be
called, unpejoratively, the Higher Gossip of History—he can
uncannily detect the actual meaning beneath social interactions . .
. Fluent and intelligent.” —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker
“Marvelous . . . Chernow’s biography gives us a deep look into this
complicated but straightforward man, and into a troubled time in
our history that still echoes today.” —Thomas E. Ricks, Foreign
Policy
“Chernow rewards the reader with considerable life-and-times
background, clear-eyed perspective, sympathy that stops short of
sycophancy, and gritty and intimate details.” —The Boston
Globe
“A triumph: a sympathetic but clear-eyed biography that will be
the starting point for all future studies of this enigmatic man . .
. Chernow [is] one of the finest biographical writers in American
history.” —Foreign Affairs
“Ron Chernow's monumental biography of the 18th president is
essential to understanding our race-conscious nation today.”
—Bloomberg
“Ron Chernow . . . has written an expansive new life of Grant. It
is a work of striking anecdotes, skillful pacing, and poignant
judgments.” —David W. Blight, The New York Review of Books
“Arriving at a moment when excitable individuals and hysterical
mobs are demonstrating crudeness in assessing historical figures,
Chernow’s book is a tutorial on measured, mature judgment . .
. Chernow’s ‘Grant’ is a gift to a nation much in need of
measured judgments about its past.” —George Will, The Washington
Post
“Chernow’s Grant is as relevant a modern figure as his Hamilton.
His Grant is a reminder that the very best American leaders can be,
and should be, self-made, hard-working, modest for themselves and
ambitious for their nation, future-looking, tolerant, and with a
heart for the poor . . . . Chernow turns the life of yet another
misunderstood figure from U.S. currency into narrative gold.”
—Slate
“Eminently readable but thick with import . .
. Grant hits like a Mack truck of
knowledge.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic
“Ron Chernow’s biography reminds our 21st-century selves of the
distinction between character and personality.” —National
Review
“Chernow’s special gift is to present a complete and compelling
picture of his subjects. His biographies do not offer up marble
deities on a pedestal; he gives us flesh and blood human beings and
helps us understand what made them tick. Just as he did with George
Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Chernow brings Ulysses S. Grant
to life. At the end of the book, the reader feels as if he knows
the man . . . A magnificent book . . . This is richly
rewarding and compelling reading.” —Christian Science
Monitor
“In 1948, a survey of historians ranked Ulysses S. Grant as the
second-worst American president. Corruption had badly tarred his
administration, just as it had that of the man at the bottom,
Warren Harding. But recent surveys have been kinder. Grant now
lands in the middle, thanks to his extraordinarily progressive work
on race relations . . . . Ron Chernow’s 1,100-page biography may
crown Grant’s restoration . . . . Mr. Chernow argues persuasively
that Grant has been badly misunderstood.” —The Economist
“Chernow writes definitive biography of Ulysses S. Grant . . . [An]
essential read . . . restores Grant to the pantheon of great
Americans.” —Newsday
“A landmark work . . . . Chernow impressively examines Grant’s
sensitivities and complexities and helps us to better understand an
underappreciated man and underrated president who served his
country extraordinarily well . . . . monumental and gripping . . .
in every respect, which even at nearly 1,000 pages, is not a
sentence too long." —American Scholar
“Grant's true story needed desperately to be told. Thanks to a
great historian, it has.” —Chris Matthews, Parade Magazine
“Full of personal and professional insights into a president and
military leader that readers will find simultaneously flawed,
relatable, and inspiring.” —Money Magazine
“Reading Ron Chernow's new biography, a truly mammoth examination
of the life of Ulysses S. Grant, one is struck by the humanity—both
the pitiful frailty and the incredible strength—of its subject.”
—Philadelphia Inquirer
“Masterful and often poignant . . . Chernow's gracefully written
biography, which promises to be the definitive work on Grant for
years to come, is fully equal to the man's remarkable story.” —
Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Reading this compelling book, it’s hard to imagine that we’ll
continue to define Grant by these scandals rather than all he
accomplished in winning the war and doing his best to make peace,
on inclusive terms that would be fair to all.” —Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel
“[A] beautifully written portrait . . . . Chernow doesn’t gloss
over Grant’s struggle with alcoholism or his tendency to trust
shady operators. However, his willingness to protect the gains of
freemen and to fight the KKK was an example of the moral courage he
consistently displayed. This is a superb tribute to Grant, whose
greatness is earning increased appreciation.” —Booklist, Starred
Review
“A stupendous new biography . . . Fascinating and immensely
readable . . . uncommonly compelling and timely . . . . Chernow’s
biography is replete with fascinating details and insightful
political analysis, a combination that brings Grant and his time to
life . . . put Grant on your must-read list.” —BookPage
“The definitive biography for the foreseeable future.” —Publishers
Weekly
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