Thanks to Google’s Books service, I went from a quick consultation of this book to reading a good portion of it online. The first few chapters are available in their entirety – as the book progresses more and more are left out, but it’s enough to gauge the readability, and this one’s very readable. Like Grant himself, it’s workmanlike – not a lot of literary flourishes, here – but genial. Several reviewers ravaged it with one stars, complaining of off-by-a-day dates or lack of tactical military understanding, but I can excuse the former if they’re minor, and the latter usually bores me to tears. My historical preference is for biography, and Grant comes back to life through the anecdotes and quotes Geoffrey Perret provides. If you’re a Grant fan, pick this one up.