First published 2012
H.W. Brands examines Ulysses Grant's transformation from obscure citizen to military genius and president. The author argues Grant saved the Union twice: first through battlefield victories that ended the Civil War, then as president during Reconstruction's turbulent years. Brands portrays Grant as a commander willing to accept heavy casualties to secure victory despite fierce criticism. As president, Grant defended freedmen's rights in the South and dealt fairly with Native Americans even as westward expansion destroyed their traditional lives. The biography reveals how Grant's reputation collapsed after his death when Southern critics attacked his Reconstruction policies. Brands challenges this historical verdict, presenting Grant as a principled leader who consolidated Union victory through resolute political action. The book offers readers a rehabilitation of Grant's legacy and an intimate examination of leadership during America's most divisive era.
Genres: biography, history, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: principled-leader, rehabilitation
Setting: South, Union
Period: Civil War, Reconstruction
718 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday