Grant

Probably more like a 4.5, but I couldn't round it down. Most of the lost points were due to sheer length.

I read this book mostly because I really enjoyed Chernow's Hamilton and Washington biographies, and because as a Canadian I haven't had a very good education on the American civil war. This was a fascinating read to learn about that period in (sometimes very minute) detail. It's particularly distressing now to see how close the US got with reconstruction, and how long it took after to get back to the civil rights that were nearly established in that era.

The book clearly takes a pro-Grant point of view, and I can't help but walk away with a similar opinion of an imperfect but still great man. Even looking at historical rankings of US presidents you get an impression of Grant and Lincoln being the best presidents between Polk and Theodore Roosevelt, among a group of downright vicious or incompetent presidents. While Grant was no Lincoln, he fought hard to preserve and adopt Lincoln's principles, and I can respect an awful lot of what he accomplished.