Mark Perry (1) (1950–)

A short history of the last days of Ulysses Grant's life, when, in the throes of oral cancer, he was struggling to complete his memoirs, to be published and sold by subscription by Twain's fledgling company. Grant had resisted writing his memoirs, but when he fell victim to his financial partners' ill-advised investment practices and found himself both bankrupt and dying, he realized his only option was to sell his recollections. His friend Sam Clemens encouraged him to break with The Century magazine which had paid Grant to write several articles on his military campaigns, and to allow Clemens to publish a two volume edition of memoirs. The offer, according to Clemens, would assure Grant that his wife and family would be well-provided for. The book provides background on both Grant and Twain, comparing their lives in intriguing ways. Well written, if a tad repetitive. Lots of vivid detail about Grant's final, personal battle, with sources fully documented in end notes, and a helpful bibliography.… (altro)

In the late 1820s, Sarah and Angelina Grimké traded their elite position as daughters of a prominent white slaveholding family in Charleston, South Carolina, for a life dedicated to abolitionism and advocacy of women's rights in the North. After the Civil War, discovering that their late brother had had children with one of his slaves, the Grimké sisters helped to educate their nephews and gave them the means to start a new life in postbellum America. The nephews, Archibald and Francis, went on to become well-known African American activists in the burgeoning civil rights movement and the founding of the NAACP. Spanning 150 eventful years, this is an inspiring tale of a remarkable family that transformed itself and America.… (altro)

In the late 1820s, Sarah and Angelina Grimké traded their elite position as daughters of a prominent white slaveholding family in Charleston, South Carolina, for a life dedicated to abolitionism and advocacy of women's rights in the north. After the Civil War, discovering that their late brother and had children with one of his slaves, The Grimké sisters help to educate their nephews and gave them the means to start a new life. The nephews, Archibald and Francis, went on to become well-known African-American activists who were involved in the burgeoning civil rights movement and the founding of the NAACP. Spanning 150 eventful years, this is an inspiring tale of a remarkable family that transformed itself and America.… (altro)