Read an electronic edition of Ulysses Grant's famous Personal Memoirs, a 19th-century bestseller. Battling terminal throat cancer, Grant raced to complete his account of the Civil War.

Thousands of Civil War veterans interested in reading the general's description of wartime events created an instant market for the book. Grant's straightforward writing made for a compelling story. These factors, along with the heroic circumstances under which the memoirs were written, elevated Grant's reputation.

In 1896, just over a decade after Grant's death, The Century magazine wrote of the memoirs, "when true greatness has put itself on record, the grave becomes but the portal of a new earthly existence; thereafter it serves mankind as a standard of duty and character."

Grant's Personal Memoirs (3.5 MB) .