Ulysses S. Grant

Brooks Simpson sets aside both the view of Ulysses S. Grant as a butcher and a drunk and the opposite portrait of a near saint. Working from original sources, he finds a man of opposing qualities: a relentless warrior who was a generous victor, a commander of uncommon common sense, and a soldier who could not bear the sight of bloody hides at his father's tannery. The biography covers his life from birth through the close of the Civil War, with particular attention to his family and his soldiering, and shows Grant coming to believe that saving the Union required destroying slavery. It is the first of two volumes and was named a New York Times Notable Book.

Ryan Holiday included it in his best book recommendations of 2012, reading it alongside Grant's own memoirs.