"The best [memoirs] of any general's since Caesar."
–Mark Twain "A unique expression of the national character . . . [Grant] has conveyed the suspense which was felt by himself and his army and by all who believed in the Union cause. The reader finds himself . . . on edge to know how the Civil War is coming out."
–Edmund Wilson
"Perhaps the most revelatory autobiography of high command to exist in any language. . . . If there is a single contemporary document which explains 'why the North won the Civil war, ' that abiding conundrum of American historical inquiry, it is the
Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant." –
John Keegan
"Well observed, often humorous, invariably charming, penetrating and lucid . . . On every page, his narrative has the simple directness of the finest English prose, inspired by the King James Bible on which he had been raised. The overall effect is both intimate and majestic."
–The Guardian
