GRANT MOVES SOUTH

While this book is part of the larger project of recounting varied aspects of the Civil War, it is concentrated on the career of the quiet, somewhat discredited army officer, Col. Grant, who was pulled from retirement in 1861 and returned to active service, through the years of growing eminence, as he captured Vicksburg, opened the Mississippi to the North, and was made the Commanding General of the northern forces. No writer today depicts the field of battle as well as Catton; in his hands war loses its glitter and fighting men are seen as tired, sweating, swearing soldiers. Vividly written, this stands on its own both as biography and history.