The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 45, July 1941 - April, 1942 Page: 117

Book Reviews

raries, the times, nor events. The reader is left with the feel-
ing that Grant handled a series of tough assignments with
measurable success; and that, anyway, it was just too much
to expect of the Galena clerk, that he could so quickly become
the first soldier of his day, and at the same time its ablest
statesman-or politician.
The use of devices of the novel is admitted, yet the writer
does not permit her imagination, even for interest-compel-
ling incident, to stray far from accepted sources. Her con-
clusions and interpretations, however, are somewhat less ortho-
dox. Those of the reader would perhaps be more accurate had
something been told of the younger Grant --of the boy in
Illinois and at West Point, of the soldier at Jefferson Barracks,
in Mexico, and elsewhere, and of the civilian at St. Louis.
There is some lack of source selection and evaluation essential
to convincing balance. The quoted bombast of "Mexico," the
regimental bad man, sounds much less authentic than Adjutant
Rawlins' vigorous outburst. Then there is "Ulyss"--no title for
a picture of Grant after forty.
A Man Named Grant is neither a study of campaigns, nor
the best available historical approach or character analysis.
However, it is a well and fairly written reminder of an out-
standing figure of a critical period, as well as an absorbing
and encouraging recital of an ever-appealing success-classic.
MAX G. OLIVER, Lieut. Col., Inf.
North Texas Agricultural College.
Western America: The Exploration, Settlement and Develop-
ment of the Region Beyond the Mississippi. By Leroy
R. Hafen and Carl Coke Rister.
New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1941. Pp. xxiv, 698. $4.65.
Books and articles written on various phases of the history
of the western part of the United States number legion, but the
publishers of Western America are undoubtedly justified in the
claim that this volume is the "first comprehensive story of the
economic, political, and social development of the lands lying

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