gr8reader's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting look into a piece of history I was unaware of. Found it a bit slow/boring at times, had to re-read a page or two when I found I had no clue what I had just read.
firerosearien's review against another edition
4.0
Short, concise narrative that focuses more on how the consequences of General Orders #11 came back to haunt Grant when he ran for president than on the order itself. Sarna paints Grant as someone who deeply regretted his actions, even if it was too late to undo the order, spent much of his later life trying to do all he could for Jewish causes.
The book isn't extremely thorough -- it's not even 200 pages -- but it has piqued my interest; Grant is usually only mentioned as a good general, but horrible president.
The book isn't extremely thorough -- it's not even 200 pages -- but it has piqued my interest; Grant is usually only mentioned as a good general, but horrible president.
ashlee1's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
This book definitely jumped out at me when I was trying to decide what to read next. As far as my knowledge of the civil war goes I had never heard of General Grant trying to force the Jewish people from their homes and lands. This is also interesting because not long after this happened Lincolns emancipation proclamation was given. This book is well researched and well thought out. It is written in a way so that it is extremely informative and easy to read. The title is a bit deceiving though because only a quarter of the book is about expelling the Jewish people. The rest of the book is about Grant's political carrier, the effects the decision to expel the Jewish people had on him, and what he did to try and fix his image.
wistyallgood's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
Pretty interesting, definitely takes this brief incident and uses that as a stepping stone to explore Grant's entire relationship with Jews throughout his presidency. The writing, though, in its effort to be palatable narrative non-fiction kind of annoyed me. There was a repetitive feeling to it, and I definitely see Sarna as a leading American Jewish historian, but his writing style isn't for me!
I definitely didn't know about this incident until I got to college, and it really highlights the major differences between American antisemitism and antisemitism elsewhere.
Pretty interesting, definitely takes this brief incident and uses that as a stepping stone to explore Grant's entire relationship with Jews throughout his presidency. The writing, though, in its effort to be palatable narrative non-fiction kind of annoyed me. There was a repetitive feeling to it, and I definitely see Sarna as a leading American Jewish historian, but his writing style isn't for me!
I definitely didn't know about this incident until I got to college, and it really highlights the major differences between American antisemitism and antisemitism elsewhere.
danperlman's review
3.0
An intriguing title and in turn, an intriguing book. If I ever knew anything about this episode in American history it's been long forgotten, but I'm pretty sure it's one of those things that just never came up in any class I ever took. The actual incident referred to is over in the first chapter, which occurs before his presidency, and, at least as presented in this volume, was basically a poorly written order done in the heat of wartime - and one that was quickly reversed. The remaining five chapters are spent covering his presidency and very briefly the period after, and how this one incident continued to haunt him throughout those years. It's well written, interesting and kept me reading.
I will say, as I was getting through chapter 6 and his demise was approaching, I kept wondering, what's going to be in the other half of the book, because according to my ereader, I was only 40-some% of the way in. Turns out, an entire half of the book is devoted to a timeline, bibliography, references, endnotes, and a massive index that takes up almost 30% of it. On an ereader that's more or less irrelevant, but makes me weep for the additional trees involved for the print edition. It does, also, make it a pretty pricey book for a mere 6 short chapters.
I will say, as I was getting through chapter 6 and his demise was approaching, I kept wondering, what's going to be in the other half of the book, because according to my ereader, I was only 40-some% of the way in. Turns out, an entire half of the book is devoted to a timeline, bibliography, references, endnotes, and a massive index that takes up almost 30% of it. On an ereader that's more or less irrelevant, but makes me weep for the additional trees involved for the print edition. It does, also, make it a pretty pricey book for a mere 6 short chapters.
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