A brilliant general who loathed war, a two-time President who scorned politics, a seeming failure who rose to the pinnacle of success only to have to fight his most difficult and gallant battle in his final years, Ulysses S. Grant is one of the truly fascinating figures in United States history.

Born in Ohio 1822, Grant had no desire to be a soldier. He went to West Point reluctantly, to please his father, and though he served with distinction in the Mexican War, his talents went unrecognized, and the army did not hesitate to accept his resignation in 1854. Grant was a family man struggling to make ends meet when the guns of Fort Sumter plunged a divided nation into war and summoned him to serve his country.

It is one of history's ironies that this man who hated bloodshed should have quickly proven himself a genius in the art of war. During the Union's darkest hours, it was Grant's victories in the West that kept hope alive, and only he could at last defeat Robert E. Lee to bring the terrible conflict to an end. It is a further irony that his genius seemed to desert him amid the challenges of peacetime, when as President of the United States he became an innocent pawn used by unscrupulous men for corrupt ends. Yet Grant's monumental strength and nobility never deserted him, and he raced against time and a fatal illness to finish his Memoirs and provide financial security for his family. Grant's courage and honor restored him in later life to his rightful place in our country's history.

From the dust jacket