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| Grant Comes East | 
| Authors: Newt Gingrich, William Forstchen
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 23015
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4
ASIN: B000FUTQ9Q
Publication Date: June 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 WOW August 15, 2008
Shaara's trilogy is great, but Gingrich and Forstchen bring an even more realistic setting this this time period in American history... and their take is completely fictitious! They write so well that when I was reading I wanted to keep on to see what was going to happen, but when I finished I was sad that it was over. I am looking forward to reading their other books!
Continuing A History That Might Have Been April 14, 2008
Continuing the counter-factual history of the Civil War that they started with Gettysburg, Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen came up with another literary hit out of the park with the second volume of their trilogy, Grant Comes East.
When the last volume ended, the Army of the Potomac had been decimated at Union Mills, Maryland and it's Commanding General, George Meade, was dead. While remnants of the Union's primary Army in the East snuck behind the wide waters of the Susquehanna River, President Lincoln summoned Ulysses S. Grant, fresh from the conquest of the Confederate fort at Vicksburg, to come East, with his Army of the Tennessee, and save the Union.
Everything that made Gettysburg great continues in this novel.
On the Confederate side, the writers spend much time inside the head of it's commander, Robert E. Lee, who comes across as a man repulsed by the horrors of war, and even by much of what his newly formed nation stands for, but willing to use it's instruments to bring about an end to a war that becomes more horrible by the day.
On the Union side, there's much more time spent in Washington as seen from the perspective of President Lincoln. Partly, that's because Lee, fresh off his victory at Union Mills, turns his attention to an attempt to break through the fortifications around Washington, D.C. In a particularly memorable and moving chapter, the third wave of Confederate troops does break through into Fort Stevens only to be repulsed by the just-arrived troops of the 54th Massachusetts, the nation's first regiment of black soldiers.
And this is where things start to change from the first volume in the series. Then, it seemed like Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia could do virtually no wrong, while the Army of the Potomac, and the Union it defended, seemed doomed. The attack on Fort Stevens, though, was clearly a mistake, and even Lee admits his error in sending his troops in to a garrison defended by upwards of 40,000 fresh troops.
And that's when politics starts to enter the picture.
Just as Lee is withdrawing from the outskirts of Washington, a convoy carrying Jefferson Davis arrives. Clearly, Davis had expected to enter the capital as a conqueror and is bitterly disappointed by the result. Unmoved, he convinces Lee to set his sights on Baltimore with the hope of bringing Maryland into the Confederacy.
Baltimore is conquered, but not before a riot that nearly destroys the city and sickens Lee and his staff. It's also in Baltimore that a most interesting exchange takes place between Lee, Judah Benjamin the Confederate Secretary of State, and a Rabbi. The Rabbi argues forcefully that, notwithstanding it's recent victories, the South will lose the war unless it regains the moral high ground. His suggestion -- emancipate the slaves and allow colored troops to serve in the Confederate Army. Both Lee and Benjamin are sympathetic to the suggestion -- a reaction consistent with their attitudes in real life -- but they both know that President Davis and the slavocracy that supports him will never allow it.
And there are politics in Washington as well. After giving Grant complete command of all Union forces in the field, Lincoln is forced to accept the appointment of General Dan Sickles, fresh from his suppression of draft riots in New York City that were even worse than what occurred in our world, to command of the remnants of the Army of the Potomac. Sickles is a War Democrat, and the support of his cronies is crucial to preserve the fragile political stability of the Union.
Sickles appointment will prove to be a disaster, as Lee uses his skills to trick the politician-turned-warrior into advancing into a trap that results in the Army of the Potomac being finally, officially destroyed.
But, the war isn't over. As the novel ends, Grant and his newly named Army of the Susquehanna are crossing the river and heading south. The final battle of the Civil War is approaching, two years earlier than it occurred in our world.
Once again, there's almost nothing wrong with this book. There are a few small factual errors. At the beginning of the book, Lincoln's Vice-President, Maine's Hannibal Hamlin, is referred to as "Vice-President Blaine" -- a reference to another Maine politician, James G. Blaine, who would not make his mark on the national scene for another decade or two. It was an obvious editor's mistake, but it pales in comparison to what makes this book, and the story it tells, so great.
There was obviously a formidable amount of research that went into this book, even to the point of a pretty accurate description of the topography and geography of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and it shows. More importantly, though, these characters, even though they are real people that have been written about countless times, come to life in a new, and entirely plausible way.
I can't wait to get through Volume Three.
Easy Read, Insight into Personalities, Fun Historical Hypotheticals February 9, 2008
This novel, based on the premise of a Confederate victory in place of Gettysburg, shows artful consideration of the role that logistics, meteorology and topography played in wars throughout history. All the leading characters are portrayed sympathetically, lending a (probably unrealistic) feeling that almost all the key leaders of the forces North and South wanted to end the war quickly, not just for the sake of victory, but also because of their humanitarian desire to avoid bloodshed. Lincoln, Lee, Grant, Longstreet, Judah Benjamin (not typically a noted figure in Civil War history) and others are given favorable treatment. Lee seems to be above the plane of humanity in his wisdom and judgement; Grant is held in mysterious silence, his thoughts seldom really exposed until towards the end of the book. Only sickles, who passes for a villian if anyone does, is given real capacity to look out for his own self interest first.
The story of the Confderate Army's victorious march into the occupation of Baltimore must have been relatively easy for Gingrich to contribute to, since his Georgia background probably includes some sense of the history of the Union occupation of cities in the South, while the tales of mayhem and vengance in an ungoverned city are the stories of today's warfare, as in Baghdad when a vacuum of power existed after Saddam's fall.
The book reads quickly, and even a shallow knowledge of Civil War history will be sufficient for a reader to enjoy this book, provided they have read its prequel, Gettysburg.
Uncle Sam & The Congressman Who Got Away With Murder December 20, 2007
This is the second installment in Newt Gingrich's Civil War Active History trilogy. Grant Comes East picks up in the dark days after the Union is routed at Gettysburg. Lee moves quickly to attack Baltimore and Washington before US Grant moves east and becomes Lincoln's Last Great Hope.
Congressman Dan Sickles takes over a beaten Army of The Potomac, and tries to set it right, but like all overzealous politicians is ultimately brought low by his own ambitions. The political intrigue, obviously The Speaker's forte, is the real story here. Sickles becomes the hero of the Democrats, including Boss Tweed, when he brutally ends the New York draft riots. Not even Grant can keep Sickles in line, and when the time comes, he puts the Army of the Potomac in grave danger again.
Lincoln becomes personally involved in defending DC. Black troops are fielded in Grant's army. Baltimore and Maryland fall to the Confederates. Perhaps the French will enter the fray. Gingrich brings his alternative view of history to life, this is a well told story. But then Grant does the truly unexpected and we need to get the third installment to see if the South could possibly win the war.
The war is far from over, and America is bleeding freely November 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Coming off from the stunning victory at Gettysburg and Union Mills, the war takes a new turn as men of great fortitude and honor struggle to keep Lee at bay. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, despite being supplemented by Union supplies, is a small elite core suffering horribly from the continued and constant attacks by the Army of the Potomac. Every loss they suffer is a catastrophe, as barely 40,000 is whittled down to 30,000 by a failed assault on Washington D.C., and supplemented to just 50,000 with 20,000 men stripped from all fronts south of Virginia and east of Georgia, literally the very last the Confederacy can spare.
On the Union side, sheer heroism on the part of Herman Haupt sees Grant's entire army and supplies shipped from Northern Tenessee to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in less than a month. Even though it costs Haupt his life to dysentary, he achieves wonders, and Grant patiently awaits Lee to make his move before pouncing.
From page one to page 404, the book goes through a whole month full of tense action, drama, politics, and emotion, with detailed and intimate looks into the minds of President Lincoln, Secretary of War Stanton, General Grant, General Lee, General Sickles, and others. Despite all the circumstances making Dan Sickles out as a bad guy, the authors so compellingly tell his side of the story through his eyes that you see crisp shades of gray where you should see pure black.
Interesting thoughts and ideas are brought forth as the failure to take Washington leads to a new strategy, the taking of Baltimore and the request for assistance sent to Napoleon III of France, and the discussion by Lee and Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin of adopting the Union idea of the Emancipation Proclamation and freeing the slaves to give Lee 100,000 more men.
The New York Draft riots, as a result of the loss at Gettysburg, are intensified in the novel, and result in 2,000 civilians killed by Sickles' corp.
The drama, emotion, intensity, and anticipation leads to a stand off between Lee's 50,000 strong Army of Northern Virginia in Baltimore, Sickles' 30,000-40,000 strong Army of the Potomac just north of him by fifty to sixty miles, and Grant's 70,000 strong Army of the Susquehanna in Harrisburg. Against orders, Sickles falls bait to Lee's trap to isolate the Army of the Potomac and destroy it.
The climax of the book is a tremendously brutal fight, almost rivaling the previous book's Battle of Union Mills in scope, blood, and agony. Mirroring real history, Sickles loses a leg via a cannonball, and Pickett's division is all but destroyed battering an entire corp when Pickett disobeys orders to give ground lightly, and goes all in against the enemy. In the end, the Army of the Potomac is finally destroyed, but Grant finally makes his move, aiming to march to Virginia...
Written as thickly rich and potent as the previous novel, this is a glorious addition with all the gore and luxurious writing of a Pressfield novel, and with plenty of moments of genuine heartbreak, heartwarming, and heart-wrenching anguish. There is no Southern bias in this book, and there is no ulterior Right-wing corruption here. This is a glorious novel that greatly rivals Shaara's "The Killer Angels" and leaves you conflicted, whether you are sympathetic to Union or Confederacy, as to whether the opposing side is truly the more righteous side.
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