That Fateful Lightning: A Novel of Ulysses S. GrantIn a village outside Saratoga Springs, New York, a weakened man sits with pen in hand, looking back at a life dominated by failure: as a farmer, a businessman, a politician--everything but as a soldier. Racked by cancer, Ulysses S. Grant is entering his final months, facing the prospect of leaving his beloved wife penniless. Now he begins one last campaign--to bring to life the only thing of value he still commands: his memoirs. In the weeks and days that follow, Grant tells a story of war and peace, of friends and enemies, and of a man born for one singular purpose--to lead an army into battle, and to lead it to victory. In this extraordinary novel, Richard Parry takes us on a powerful journey through the Civil War as seen through the shrewd, unwavering eyes of its most enigmatic and least understood protagonist. For as Grant wages a duel against death itself, and his friends and family gather around him, he reveals with stunning clarity his vision of the war: at once a tragedy and a challenge, a nightmare and a puzzle, an epic of carefully laid strategies and counter-strategies as well as a strokes of inexplicable, decisive chance. Within these pages we meet such powerful historical figures as Mark Twain, the book publisher trying desperately to rescue Grant from poverty in the last year of his life; William Tecumseh Sherman, brilliant and dynamic, but also unsure and sorely in need of Grant's nurturing in war and life; and General Robert E. Lee, whose differences from Grant vividly illustrate the cultural and social divide at the core of the Civil War. A rich, vivid, and action-packed addition to our nation's literature of the Civil War, That Fateful Lightning is apowerful portrait of a uniquely American hero, a simple but misunderstood man who felt truly at peace only amid the horror and chaos of war. |
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army artillery attack battle beard bullets Cadwallader camp cannon cavalry chair cigar coat Colonel command Confederate Corps Cump damned Dana dark Douglas enemy eral eyes face FATEFUL LIGHTNING field fighting fingers fire flag flank forces Fred general's Grand Gulf Grant asked Grant looked Grant nodded Grant paused Grant realized Grant thought Grant waited Grant watched grapeshot ground Halleck hand Harrison horse Hovey inside Joe Johnston John Rawlins Johnston Julia Julia Grant knew land Lee's legs Lew Wallace light Lincoln Mark Twain McClernand McPherson Meade Meade's minié balls move musket never officer orders Osterhaus Pemberton pocket Porter President Rawlins rebel rifle river road rode rose saddle saluted Sheridan Sherman shook his head shot shoulders Shrady side smoke soldiers staff stared stood surrender tent throat trees troops Twain Ulysses Grant Ulysses Simpson Grant Union Vicksburg waited William Tecumseh Sherman wounded