Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant

Why it’s on the list: Grant wrote the two volumes while dying of throat cancer and broke, finishing days before his death; Mark Twain published them and the royalties saved his family. Widely held to be the best memoir any American general has written — plain, unsentimental, and specific about decisions.

Where I saw it: A bare Wikipedia link saved in the note.

Re-surfaced (recommendation #2) in the reply thread to @typesfast asking “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (June 5, 2025) — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand; the full list lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet). It was listed there as “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant”.

Connections

• Republic of Letters — the portfolio idea this sits closest to: a first-hand account written for the record rather than for the reputation.
• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — recommendation #2: named in this crowd-sourced thread.