Soldier of Destiny tells the almost inconceivable tale of Ulysses S. Grant’s redemption over the course of a single decade, from his abrupt exit from the Army for alcohol abuse in 1854, to his appointment as General-in-Chief of the Army in 1864. Much as Erik Larson created a more relatable and nuanced Churchill by focusing on his family life in The Splendid and the Vile, Intricate Destiny offers a fresh perspective on Grant in part by exploring his fraught relationships with his antislavery father, Jesse Grant, and his slaveholding wife, Julia. 

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Many Americans do not know that Ulysses and Julia benefited from enslaved laborers during that entire decade. While Grant fought to save the Union during the Civil War, his wife and her family continued to own slaves in Missouri up until 1864. Soldier of Destiny will show Grant’s connection to slavery in far more detail than previous biographies.