The Complete Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant

"President Grant: Personal Memoirs" ranks with the greatest among the autobiographies of generals and presidents of the United States. Grant's autobiography is even more impressive in light of the circumstances in which it was created: Faced with terminal cancer, virtual bankruptcy, and a family he would leave without means of support, U. S. Grant took the advice of his publisher, Mark Twain, and went to work. He completed the manuscript for "President Grant: Personal Memoirs" in eleven months and died a week later, on July 23, 1885.