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The Generals
A fascinating dual biography of the two greatest generals of the Civil War provides in-depth coverage of the Civil War years, as well as information on the childhood, education, military careers, and personal lives of Grant and Lee.
629 pages, Paperback
First published January 12, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 5, 2021
Having so carefully explored the fascinating story of the lives of Grant and Lee prior to the Civil War, I was surprised that the authors devoted so little attention to the lives of the men after the war, covering those events in nothing more than a brief "Epilogue." Although I would have preferred more of the post-war stories, overall this is a well-researched and very well-written "dual biography."
I've had this book on my shelf for many years before finally getting around to reading it. As I was reading it I found myself wondering why such a well-written and interesting book, published by Knopf, could nevertheless be relatively unknown. I wonder if this isn't a case of a book being judged by its cover. With the dust jacket removed, it is a handsome book, expensively put together. But the cover art on the dust jacket is cartoonish and makes the book look frivolous or, at at minimum, unserious. Seeing the book on my side table, my wife said she assumed it must be science fiction. John Howard is a fine artist and illustrator, but in my opinion a very poor choice for as the cover artist for this book.
I've had this book on my shelf for many years before finally getting around to reading it. As I was reading it I found myself wondering why such a well-written and interesting book, published by Knopf, could nevertheless be relatively unknown. I wonder if this isn't a case of a book being judged by its cover. With the dust jacket removed, it is a handsome book, expensively put together. But the cover art on the dust jacket is cartoonish and makes the book look frivolous or, at at minimum, unserious. Seeing the book on my side table, my wife said she assumed it must be science fiction. John Howard is a fine artist and illustrator, but in my opinion a very poor choice for as the cover artist for this book.
October 4, 2017
This charming book of antidotes, personal accounts and remembrances provides wonderful insights into these complex and enormously influential military leaders. Expertly researched and skillfully arranged the book follows a combined timeline for both men from early character building events through the extraordinary challenges and heartbreaking sorrows at the head of opposing armies. The narrative forms intimate and at times humorous character illustrations of the these two icons of American History.
September 11, 2021
Fairly good dual biography, alternating between each general's career. On the other hand, the book doesn't offer much analysis of each general. Also, a few parts of their careers were passed over with little or no detail, such as the Chattanooga campaign.
September 17, 2025
Though nearly 40 years old, the book offers a highly readable introduction to the lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. This book doesn’t aim for exhaustive depth but serves as a solid starting point. If you’ve read modern biographies like Ron Chernow’s masterful take on Grant, you won’t uncover much new here. Still, the narrative avoids dragging you into a stupor, and it sprinkles in memorable trivia that sticks long after you finish.
For instance, I hadn’t realized how persistently unhappy Robert E. Lee’s marriage was—a sharp contrast to Grant’s bond with Julia Dent. Despite their opposing backgrounds—she from a slaveholding family, he from an antislavery Ohio clan—they built a relationship with plenty to celebrate and shared common ground.
The authors trace Grant’s rocky years after resigning from the army, marked by repeated business failures. Both men graduated from West Point, but Lee sailed through without a single demerit, while Grant’s record was less pristine. The book also sketches a broad chronology of the Civil War, highlighting how it pulled Grant back to military life, where he thrived as a soldier, and cemented Lee’s choice to follow Virginia into secession.
You don’t need a stack of battlefield maps to follow the war’s progression here. The account of Gettysburg leans slightly toward historical fiction in its vividness, but the audio edition I experienced lacked explanatory notes or supplemental references, so I can’t vouch for the depth of the research.
The authors seem fixated on Grant’s alleged drinking, particularly an incident on a steamer one summer, drawn from a report by journalist Sylvanus Cadwallader. Modern Civil War historians often caution against trusting Cadwallader’s accounts too much. We’ll never know the full truth about Grant’s habits, and his well-documented migraines might explain some episodes more than whiskey does. I’ll leave that to the reader’s judgment.
The book feels balanced, though some reviewers question whether the authors leaned into the “Lost Cause” narrative of earlier historians. I didn’t spot anything glaringly biased, but it’s worth noting for those sensitive to such framing.
Most quoted material will feel familiar, especially if you’ve read newer works like Chernow’s. Still, the writing has its moments. Lee’s silent vigil at Gettysburg, staring through binoculars as his men fall by the hundreds, hits hard. The authors paint a vivid picture of his stoic refusal to issue orders as the battle turns grim—a scene that lingers.
The final chapters cover the war’s closing battles and the surrender at Appomattox with clarity. However, the epilogue feels rushed, skimming over the postwar lives of both men in a cursory, high-level summary.
Overall, this earns three stars as a solid springboard for deeper exploration of Grant and Lee. It’s not the definitive work on either man, but it’s engaging enough to keep you turning pages and curious for more.
For instance, I hadn’t realized how persistently unhappy Robert E. Lee’s marriage was—a sharp contrast to Grant’s bond with Julia Dent. Despite their opposing backgrounds—she from a slaveholding family, he from an antislavery Ohio clan—they built a relationship with plenty to celebrate and shared common ground.
The authors trace Grant’s rocky years after resigning from the army, marked by repeated business failures. Both men graduated from West Point, but Lee sailed through without a single demerit, while Grant’s record was less pristine. The book also sketches a broad chronology of the Civil War, highlighting how it pulled Grant back to military life, where he thrived as a soldier, and cemented Lee’s choice to follow Virginia into secession.
You don’t need a stack of battlefield maps to follow the war’s progression here. The account of Gettysburg leans slightly toward historical fiction in its vividness, but the audio edition I experienced lacked explanatory notes or supplemental references, so I can’t vouch for the depth of the research.
The authors seem fixated on Grant’s alleged drinking, particularly an incident on a steamer one summer, drawn from a report by journalist Sylvanus Cadwallader. Modern Civil War historians often caution against trusting Cadwallader’s accounts too much. We’ll never know the full truth about Grant’s habits, and his well-documented migraines might explain some episodes more than whiskey does. I’ll leave that to the reader’s judgment.
The book feels balanced, though some reviewers question whether the authors leaned into the “Lost Cause” narrative of earlier historians. I didn’t spot anything glaringly biased, but it’s worth noting for those sensitive to such framing.
Most quoted material will feel familiar, especially if you’ve read newer works like Chernow’s. Still, the writing has its moments. Lee’s silent vigil at Gettysburg, staring through binoculars as his men fall by the hundreds, hits hard. The authors paint a vivid picture of his stoic refusal to issue orders as the battle turns grim—a scene that lingers.
The final chapters cover the war’s closing battles and the surrender at Appomattox with clarity. However, the epilogue feels rushed, skimming over the postwar lives of both men in a cursory, high-level summary.
Overall, this earns three stars as a solid springboard for deeper exploration of Grant and Lee. It’s not the definitive work on either man, but it’s engaging enough to keep you turning pages and curious for more.
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September 14, 2023A masterful point on point comparison of the two greatest generals of the civil war and a comprehensive narrative on the progression of that war.
November 7, 2014
THE GENERALS portrays the lives of Civil War commanders U.S. Grant and Robert E. Lee from childhood to the closing of the catastrophic war. An Afterward gives a brief account of their lives post war.
The book's primary sources are contemporaneous letters, diaries, military orders, reminiscences, and the like, which give us a more immediate, personal view of the Generals and their times. Grant had a happier marriage; Lee garnered widespread respect for his character, while holding disparaging views about his father and disappointment with some of his children; Grant's reputation as having problem with drink was often overstated but nonetheless harmful to his career at times; Lee was patrician in carriage, Grant the common-man soldier.
The two met briefly a decade before the War Between the States would immortalize them as antagonists. During the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, Lee served on the staff of General Winfield Scott and proved himself a tactician to be noted at Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec. Grant, younger and of lower rank, was a quartermaster who acquitted himself well in battle. As quartermaster, he briefly met Lee who dressed him down for his appearance. Grant always remembered the patrician Lee from that meeting; Lee could not recall Grant from Mexico, even when they met at Appomattox Courthouse for Lee's formal surrender.
THE GENERALS gives due explanations for Lee's rise as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and Grant's eventual assumption of the Army of the Potomac. The book does a good job too of noting the failures of each, with Grant in the Wilderness campaign and Lee, perhaps fatally, at Gettysburg.
Since Civil War tactics produced in casualties a virtual holocaust, with single battles sometimes lasting only a day or two leaving tens of thousands dead on the field, what may we say about the last men standing, Grant and Lee (and their reduced armies,) given their decisions that led to such outcomes? There are clues in THE GENERALS.
Lee was devoutly religious, believed in Providence, and often thought of the Christian afterlife. In some of his correspondence, he would ruminate on his hope for meeting loved ones in eternal life. Towards the end of the war he had to be restrained by his own men, kept from leading the charge that would have surely achieved death and glory. Were Lee's devout beliefs culpable, at least in part, in his willingness to throw so many fellow countrymen in battle situations that led to their deaths? Was it the idea that God's Will will prevail, which in the end was a theological nihilism?
Grant was different. He held, along with others like General Sherman, the modern concept of total war. While the South believed they could win a war of attrition, inducing enough Unionist casualties to cause the Northern states to allow secession rather than more deaths, Grant and others were bent on crushing the traitorous rebellion. To this end, Grant not only committed to the field thousands of men he knew might be sacrificed, but also designed or allowed a scorched earth policy, leaving civilian plantations in ruins, for instance, or
conceiving Sherman's ruinous March from Atlanta to the Atlantic.
THE GENERALS is a worthy read for related issues as well. For instance, the origins of the War of Secession had its roots in the slavery issues of the expansion of slave states west, as well as the Southern erroneous fear of multiple slave rebellions instigated by "extremist" abolitionists from "up north." This treatment in the book once again demonstrates the Southern conservative's idea that the War Between the States was primarily a war for "state's rights" is off the mark.
The book's primary sources are contemporaneous letters, diaries, military orders, reminiscences, and the like, which give us a more immediate, personal view of the Generals and their times. Grant had a happier marriage; Lee garnered widespread respect for his character, while holding disparaging views about his father and disappointment with some of his children; Grant's reputation as having problem with drink was often overstated but nonetheless harmful to his career at times; Lee was patrician in carriage, Grant the common-man soldier.
The two met briefly a decade before the War Between the States would immortalize them as antagonists. During the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, Lee served on the staff of General Winfield Scott and proved himself a tactician to be noted at Cerro Gordo and Chapultepec. Grant, younger and of lower rank, was a quartermaster who acquitted himself well in battle. As quartermaster, he briefly met Lee who dressed him down for his appearance. Grant always remembered the patrician Lee from that meeting; Lee could not recall Grant from Mexico, even when they met at Appomattox Courthouse for Lee's formal surrender.
THE GENERALS gives due explanations for Lee's rise as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and Grant's eventual assumption of the Army of the Potomac. The book does a good job too of noting the failures of each, with Grant in the Wilderness campaign and Lee, perhaps fatally, at Gettysburg.
Since Civil War tactics produced in casualties a virtual holocaust, with single battles sometimes lasting only a day or two leaving tens of thousands dead on the field, what may we say about the last men standing, Grant and Lee (and their reduced armies,) given their decisions that led to such outcomes? There are clues in THE GENERALS.
Lee was devoutly religious, believed in Providence, and often thought of the Christian afterlife. In some of his correspondence, he would ruminate on his hope for meeting loved ones in eternal life. Towards the end of the war he had to be restrained by his own men, kept from leading the charge that would have surely achieved death and glory. Were Lee's devout beliefs culpable, at least in part, in his willingness to throw so many fellow countrymen in battle situations that led to their deaths? Was it the idea that God's Will will prevail, which in the end was a theological nihilism?
Grant was different. He held, along with others like General Sherman, the modern concept of total war. While the South believed they could win a war of attrition, inducing enough Unionist casualties to cause the Northern states to allow secession rather than more deaths, Grant and others were bent on crushing the traitorous rebellion. To this end, Grant not only committed to the field thousands of men he knew might be sacrificed, but also designed or allowed a scorched earth policy, leaving civilian plantations in ruins, for instance, or
conceiving Sherman's ruinous March from Atlanta to the Atlantic.
THE GENERALS is a worthy read for related issues as well. For instance, the origins of the War of Secession had its roots in the slavery issues of the expansion of slave states west, as well as the Southern erroneous fear of multiple slave rebellions instigated by "extremist" abolitionists from "up north." This treatment in the book once again demonstrates the Southern conservative's idea that the War Between the States was primarily a war for "state's rights" is off the mark.
October 23, 2012
Parallel biographies of the two main generals of the American Civil War. Contains numerous footnotes from primary sources. It is an easy read.
February 1, 2017
Unless studied and learned from, we are doomed to repeat history. Here is a great book telling the story of two great men. Something to learn from, so our future is preserved.
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