Grant miniseries

This 3-part miniseries was on the History Channel last year, and I just watched it. It's pretty decent, kind of like a Trader Joe's version of the Ken Burns documentary. There isn't nearly as much archival footage employed. There are a handful of photos of Grant that you will see again and again. The actor who plays Grant nails it. There are way, way too many shots of him smoking cigars, however. This is based on a book, and it is a kind of glorified book on tape. There are some recreated battle scenes that don't really capture the grandness of it all. Lincoln comes across as this dorky, irrelevant character. What's up with that? Jefferson Davis isn't even in it.

Grant is portrayed as this tactically brilliant uber-general, but the series doesn't completely demonstrate that. Mostly it seems like Grant wins a war of attrition through sheer relentlessness and total war tactics. He was certainly brilliant when compared to his bumbling predecessors. The timeline is longer than "The Civil War", so there are some interesting bits about West Point and his presidency in there.

3/5 stars