LEE OR GRANT

Manly takes a focused deep dive into a popular Civil War argument.

In this debut history book, the author displays his passion for the Civil War with a detailed discussion of whether Ulysses S. Grant of the Union or Robert E. Lee of the Confederacy was the better general. After a brief biography of each man—including an acknowledgment of their relationships with enslaved people—Manly moves chronologically through the major battles of the war that each general led. The book summarizes the circumstances of each battle and its outcome, in terms of both human costs and political gains and losses. The author identifies each general’s strengths and weaknesses, then calculates a numeric score that averages the values he assigns for strategy, tactics, and casualties. Manly uses these stats to determine an overall score for each general, which the author supplements with an additional qualitative assessment that weighs the generals’ strategic visions, operational skills, adaptability, and results. The book draws on a vast amount of existing Civil War scholarship, and the author shares his favorite sources with readers, highlighting several scholarly and popular biographies for those interested in a more detailed look at the men and their histories. The book succeeds by clearly laying out its narrow focus and sticking to it, comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of Grant and Lee on the battlefield. Manly does an excellent job of summarizing complex battles and protracted campaigns, making it clear to the reader why each skirmish mattered and what effect it had on the war’s development and outcome. (Hewing to this precise focus, the author has little to say here about civilian politicians or moral and ethical questions.) While this is clearly a passion project, Manly does not come across as an advocate for either contender (“This is not a history book with either veiled or outright partisanship”); he maintains a dispassionate tone throughout that allows the reader to appreciate the text’s insights without declaring an affinity for Team Grant or Team Lee.

A concise but thorough exploration of two competing generals and their battles.