As a writing teacher of several decades, I never cared for the advice “write like you talk.” Most people don’t talk all that well. Besides, writing is a different process from talking. Talking is easy. Writing is hard. But “write like you talk” was the advice that Ulysses S. Grant got from Robert S. Johnson, • Read More »
Tags: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Century Magazine, Civil War, John Marszzalek, Robert Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant
The battle of Shiloh during two April days in 1862 proved to William Tecumseh Sherman that he could be what he always wanted to be – a success. See Two failures who save each other – and then saved the nation (part 1). Sherman had not been successful at very much during his adult life. • Read More »
Tags: Albert Sidney Johnston, Alfred Waud, battle of Shiloh, Henry Halleck, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman
Well into his adult life, Cump Sherman considered himself a failure. So did others. He had attended West Point and had accomplished some relative successes in his military career. But when he left the army, he proceeded to fail at everything he tried. His health — he suffered from asthma — and his mental stability were • Read More »
Tags: Civil War, Cump Sherman, John Marszalek, Sam Grant, Shiloh, Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman, Winston Groom
Ulysses S. Grant lived a life of devastating defeats and mind-boggling triumphs. As such, he gives biographers a rich mine of material to work with. The latest biographer, Ron Chernow, seems to have done fairly with the material of Grant’s life, according to the book’s critics. One such critic is David Blight, an American History • Read More »
Tags: David Blight, John F. Marzalek, New York Review of Books, Ron Chernow, Ulysses S. Grant
This newsletter was sent to the people on Jim’s email list (3,988) on Friday, Oct. 20, 2017. Hi, Fence rows, tractor lifts, chainsaws, and hayrolls — they’ve all been a big part of my life lately. The farm offers an endless variety of experiences and possibilities. Don’t forget the victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate. The wildfires in • Read More »
Tags: Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Miller, free expression, Jill Lepore, New Yorker, Project Gutenberg, Ron Chernow, The Devil's Dictionary, The First Amendment, Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia Arnold, World Series
His memoir was eagerly awaited by the public while he was still writing it. His death, for several months before it occurred, was tracked almost daily by the newspapers of the time. Both occurred at the same time in the spring and summer of 1885. For more than a century after his death, the presidency • Read More »
Tags: . Bill Clinton, autobiography, Grant, memoirs, New York Times, Robert E. Lee, Ron Chernow, Ulysses S. Grant
Gettysburg is so iconic — particularly because of the Gettysburg Address that Abraham Lincoln delivered four months after the battle — that we tend to lose sight of what it meant to the people who lived during the war.
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War Trust, George Meade, Gettysburg, Gettysburg Address, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Vicksburg, video