John Rademacher

With the benefit of having read most of Chernow’s extensively researched “Grant” (paperback, 965 pages, plus 10-page bibliography, plus 52 page footnotes), I enjoyed and appreciated the mini-series. Although there were some inaccuracies in the series, I believe it did justice to depicting some key Civil War battles and revealing the brilliance, determination, and character of General Grant. Furthermore, the series emphasized the daunting, monumental challenges he faced as a two-term President in the chaotic and violent Reconstruction. Considering that the series covered in six hours what Chernow covered in almost 1000 pages, it was a decent summary highlighting Grant’s critical role in winning the Civil War and stabilizing our country during the turbulent years following the war. As has been mentioned by others, there was an inordinate number of commercials, which was a big turnoff. PBS would have been a better choice unless the History Channel gets the message. Reading Chernow’s book and watching the series reinforce for me that Grant was one of our greatest generals (if not, the greatest)and ranks with Washington and Lincoln as President. His reputation was much maligned before, and now he’s receiving earned and deserved recognition for his proper place in history. All schools should have the series in their high school curriculum and every library should have at least two copies on file.