A riveting history of the battle that permanently turned the tide of the Civil War. While Gettysburg is better known, Winston Groom makes clear in this engrossing narrative that Vicksburg was the more important battle from a strategic point of view. Re-creating the epic campaign that culminated at Vicksburg, Groom details the arduous struggle by the Union to gain control of the Mississippi River valley and to divide the Confederacy in two. He takes us back to 1861, when Lincoln chooses Ulysses S. Grant—seen at the time as a mediocre general with a drinking problem—to lead the Union army south from Illinois. We follow Grant and his troops as they fight one campaign after another, including the famous engagements at Forts Henry and Donelson and the bloodbath at Shiloh, until, after almost a year, they close in on Vicksburg. We witness Grant’s seven long months of battle against the determined Confederate army, and the many failed Union attempts to take Vicksburg, during which thousands of soldiers on both sides would be buried and, ultimately, the fate of the Confederacy would be sealed. As Groom recounts this landmark confrontation, he brings the participants to life. We see Grant in all his grim determination, the feistiness of William Tecumseh Sherman, and the pride and intransigence of Confederate leaders from Jefferson Davis and General Joseph E. Johnston to General John C. Pemberton, the Philadelphia-born Rebel who commanded at Vicksburg and took the blame for losing. A first-rate work of military history and an essential contribution to our understanding of the Civil War.

Vicksburg 1863

History

Groom, Winston

Americas

KNOPF

In June 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny rode out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with two thousand soldiers, bound for California. At the time, the nation was hell-bent on expansion: James K. Polk had lately won the presidency by threatening England over the borders in Oregon, while Congress had just voted, in defiance of the Mexican government, to annex Texas. After Mexico declared war on the United States, Kearny’s Army of the West was sent out, carrying orders to occupy Mexican territory. When his expedition ended a year later, the country had doubled in size and now stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, fulfilling what many saw as the nation’s unique destiny—and at the same time setting the stage for the American Civil War. Winston Groom recounts the amazing adventure and danger that Kearny and his troops encountered on the trail. Their story intertwines with those of the famous mountain man Kit Carson; Brigham Young and his Mormon followers fleeing persecution and Illinois; and the ill-fated Donner party, trapped in the snow of the Sierra Nevada. Together, they encounter wild Indians, Mexican armies, political intrigue, dangerous wildlife, gold rushes, and land-grabs. Some returned in glory, others in shackles, and some not at all. But these were the people who helped America fulfill her promise. Distilling a wealth of letters, journals, and military records, Groom gives us a powerful account that enlivens our understanding of the exciting, if unforgiving, business of country-making.

Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847

Biographies & Memoirs

Historical

In this thrilling narrative history of the Civil War’s most strategically important campaign, Winston Groom describes the bloody two-year grind that started when Ulysses S. Grant began taking a series of Confederate strongholds in 1861, climaxing with the siege of Vicksburg two years later. For Grant and the Union it was a crucial success that captured the Mississippi River, divided the South in half, and set the stage for eventual victory. Vicksburg, 1863 brings the battles and the protagonists of this struggle to life: we see Grant in all his grim determination, Sherman with his feistiness and talent for war, and Confederate leaders from Jefferson Davis to Joe Johnston to John Pemberton. It is an epic account by a masterful writer and historian.

Vicksburg, 1863 (Vintage Civil War Library)

Vintage

A thrilling re-creation of a crucial campaign in the Mexican-American War and a pivotal moment in America's history. In June 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny rode out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a thousand cavalrymen of the First United States Dragoons. When his fantastic expedition ended a year and two-thousand miles later, the nation had doubled in size and now stretched from Atlantic to Pacific, fulfilling what many saw as its unique destiny. Kearny's March has all the stuff of great narrative history: hardships on the trail, wild Indians, famous mountain men, international conflict and political intrigue, personal dramas, gold rushes and land-grabs. Winston Groom plumbs the wealth of primary documentation--journals and letters, as well as military records--and gives us a sleek, exciting account that captures our imaginations and enlivens our understanding of the sometimes dirty business of country-making.

The modern classic that inspired the beloved movie starring Tom Hanks. Six foot six, 242 pounds, and possessed of a scant IQ of 70, Forrest Gump is the lovable, surprisingly savvy hero of this classic comic tale. His early life may seem inauspicious, but when the University of Alabama’s football team drafts Forrest and makes him a star, it sets him on an unbelievable path that will transform him from Vietnam hero to world-class Ping-Pong player, from wrestler to entrepreneur. With a voice all his own, Forrest is telling all in a madcap romp through three decades of American history.

Forrest Gump

Literature & Fiction

Humor & Satire

Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl

Random House Audio |

Delia Jamison is a gorgeous woman of a certain age and at the pinnacle of her career as anchor of a network news show in Los Angeles. But she is being blackmailed by someone she is certain is one of her former lovers. Terrified to go to the police for fear the story will leak and cause a scandal, Delia's at her wit's end when she accidentally runs into none other than one of those former lovers, Johnny Lightfoot, whom she hasn't seen in nearly twenty years. Johnny is now an Academy Award-winning screenwriter living in New York and L.A. who feels the old emotional attraction for Delia rising again. Even though she's recently married, Delia mysteriously seems to encourage Johnny's interest. Since she won't go to the police, Johnny agrees to help her find the culprit, which means she has to produce a list of the suspects. And what a list it is: moguls on the New York Stock Exchange, fancy lawyers, a stellar Ivy League professor--even a United States senator. As Johnny's investigation delves deeper into Delia's past, it exposes more than he ever wanted to know; meanwhile, the blackmailer rachets up his dangerous game. As the story moves to its frightening climax, Johnny Lightfoot finds himself entangled in a web of deceit and savage sexual violence that makes him wonder if he ever really knew Delia at all.

Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl: A Novel

United States

Random House]

Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl: A Novel (Random House Large Print)

Random House, Large Print

Chronicles the rollicking misadventures of Forrest Gump, an idiot savant college football player whose mathematical genius does not prevent his flunking out and who finds himself drafted for Vietnam

DOUBLEDAY

Beau Gunn returns from Vietnam stripped of his boyish naivete and becomes a successful playwright and journalist, but when he is drawn back to his native Alabama, he uncovers a scandal so shocking that it may destroy many lives, including his own

Gone the Sun

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Books by Groom, Winston

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Groom, Winston. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Vicksburg 1863

Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847

Vicksburg, 1863 (Vintage Civil War Library)

Kearny's March: The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847

Forrest Gump

Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl

Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl: A Novel

Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl: A Novel (Random House Large Print)

Forrest Gump

Gone the Sun