The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 | 
| Author: Martin Dugard
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $11.86
You Save: $18.13 (60%)
New (35) Used (9) from $10.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 51212
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0316166251
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.62
EAN: 9780316166256
ASIN: 0316166251
Publication Date: May 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| • | CD-ROM - The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 | | • | Kindle Edition - The Training Ground | | • | Audio Cassette - The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 | | • | Audio CD - The Training Ground | | • | Audio Download - The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War 1846-1848 (Unabridged) | | • | Audio CD - The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 | | • | Audio Cassette - The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Few historical figures are as inextricably linked as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee. But less than two decades before they faced each other as enemies at Appomattox, they had been brothers--both West Point graduates, both wearing blue, and both fighting in the same cadre in the Mexican War. They were not alone: Sherman, Davis, Jackson-nearly all of the Civil War's greatest soldiers had been forged in the heat of Vera Cruz and Monterrey.
The Mexican War has faded from our national memory, but it was a struggle of enormous significance: the first U.S. war waged on foreign soil; and it nearly doubled our nation. At this fascinating juncture of American history, a group of young men came together to fight as friends, only years later to fight as enemies. This is their story. Full of dramatic battles, daring rescues, secret missions, soaring triumphs and tragic losses, THE TRAINING GROUND is history at its finest.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Excellent read! July 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Well written, easily understood exposition on a relatively unknown chapter of American History. I particularly enjoyed this glimpse into some of the formative experiences of so many of the men who would play major roles in the Civil War.
 Good read - bad history June 27, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I was very disappointed with The Training Ground. It is a good read but you can't trust it. There are numerious factual errors. On page 160, Mr. Dugard states "He (Abraham Lincoln)was born in Kentucky and lived there until moving to Illinois at the age of 22." Maybe Mr. Dugard considers the 14 years that the Lincoln family spent in Indiana as just passing through? The Lincolns moved to Illinois when Abe was 21 and they had lived in Spencer County Indiana since he was 7.
When I started the book, I hoped to learn more about men that I knew mostly from the Civil War. The farther I got into it, the more I felt a need to double check Dugard's statements
 Read It June 5, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
A history book that you cannot put down. Dugard impeccably details the landscape of war and the tremendous strength, loyalty, leadership and courage of young men faced with insurmountable circumstances. The writing is fluid, informative, and rich. One of the many strengths of The Training Ground is the manner in which the chaos and brutality of war is contrasted with individuals and how their lives are forever affected. I've heard the term "page anxiety" used with history books. There is none to be found here. I found this book bold, informative and told from a perspective lacking in its genre. An exellent, excellent read.
Poorly done for a history May 31, 2008
19 out of 26 found this review helpful
Did you know that George Pickett would become "something of a cult figure for graduating fifty-ninth in a class of fifty-nine and then later led one of the most famous cavalry charges in the history of modern warfare"? On page six, this book imparts the astounding historical fact that Pickett's Charge was mounted. 145 years, millions of words, hundreds of book, thousands of prints and paintings but Martin Dugard found the truth. However, there is no footnote proving that Pickett's Division road to battle on July 3, 1863. Without that little detail, I will continue to think they were an infantry division and the men walked both ways.
The dust jacket says Dugard is a "bestselling author of non-fiction", while that may be true, he is not a historian. The book has multiple direct quotes and no footnotes to support them. At the end of the book is a section entitled "Selected Notes and Biographies" that is designed to make the book appear to be a serious history.
The book is readable but neither a history of the War with Mexico nor a history of the men involved. This is a series of stories, strung together about men who would be generals in another war. At best, it is a readable introduction. At worst, it is full of errors, misquotes and misstatements.
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