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‘Unconditional Surrender’ brings Grant’s Civil War story to life

Oct 08, 2025

Chris Mackowski and Curt FieldsThe latest book by Dr. Chris Mackowski, professor of Journalism and Mass Communication in the Jandoli School, offers a reader-friendly, intro-level overview of Union General Ulysses S. Grant’s wartime career.

During the Civil War, Grant earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” – a play on his initials – after he captured an entire Confederate army in February 1862. It was the first major northern victory of the war, and it made Grant a household name, North and South.

The victory led to a string of other achievements that eventually ended the war in 1865 and put Grant in the White House in 1868.

The book, “Unconditional Surrender: Ulysses S. Grant in the Civil War,” is co-authored by Dr. Curt Fields, a member of the board of directors of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. As the nation’s foremost Grant “living historian,” Fields travels the country doing first-person portrayals of Grant. “Unconditional Surrender” was released in August by Savas Beatie, LLC.