Helpful Score: 1
Really a very good book. Not written in the usual chronology but rather by subjects, psychology etc. trying to get inside Robert E. Lee and see what made him tick. Heavily substantiated with references to his letters as well as whyat his contemporaries thought of him.
This is a must read book for students of the history of the civil war and what came before and after until 1870 when Lee died.
I loved it
This is a must read book for students of the history of the civil war and what came before and after until 1870 when Lee died.
I loved it
Helpful Score: 1
This is another good look at the 'new' Robert E. Lee, shorn of the mantle of the "Marble Man" developed by the Lost Cause Mythology. The author uses detailed references to portray Lee as he was, a human being, with all the good and not-so-good traits we all have. If we are to truly understand our history, we must look at it honestly, without the sugar-coating.
The most negative side of the story is how Lee often contributed to his own mythology, by 'rewriting' his decisions to adhere to what would make him look better. In that, he was no better than most of the Civil War's leaders who embellished their careers in published works.
The most negative side of the story is how Lee often contributed to his own mythology, by 'rewriting' his decisions to adhere to what would make him look better. In that, he was no better than most of the Civil War's leaders who embellished their careers in published works.
This biography is about his character, his inner self, not about battle tactics and the like. For example, there is almost nothing about the War of 1846. The author, a professor in British Columbia, worked three years on the research into his subject. When I had US History in grades 5, 8, and 11 RE Lee was the only CSA figure with standing. I am sorry to now learn that he was such a believer in the Lost Cause as we out here on the Coast saw him as an advocate of a united nation after that great war. Thus I only read three chapters.
My very brief notes for when I use this as collateral reading material.
Introduction. Struggling for Self-Mastery. pp. xiii-xx +313-314
Dr. Feldman introduces readers to Lee as an educator, he is leading Washington College, Lexington, Virginia. He had taken the precepts of Marcus Aurelius to heart and tried to be stoical, focused, and self-possessed. We are reminded of his membership in the ruling class of Virginia. "The man of virtue ought to have no selfish desires and no demanding ego; just a pure concern for service; no feelings uncontrolled by reason and duty, no personal interest or subordination to self-serving groups or political parties (xviii)." Many Southern gentlemen fell short, were wastrels and carousers, but he "made a sustained effort to conform his actual behavior to that set of values all men of his class subscribed to in principal (xviii)." But Lee lived in the 19th C., not the 18th C., and there were businessmen and 'lower orders' active in politics and the aristocrats had to deal with them. He was a member of Virginia society and an officer in the army.
"In a very real sense, the Civil War rescued Robert E. Lee from marginality and obscurity. In it, he learned to focus his values, his talent, and his deepest feelings on the terrible martial problems at hand. Only in combat did Lee discover and express a well of anger and desire for action that allowed him to overcome his lifelong habits of self-abnegation and passivity (xix)."
Chapter One. Patrimony Recaptured. Pp. 1-19 + 314-317.
Dr. Feldman explains the great connections of the ruling class in Virginia through marriage. Unfortunately, Lee was raised in poor circumstances as his father, Light Horse Harry Lee was improvident. His father did write the 1799 oration for Washington, 'First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'
Epilogue. Hannibal's Ghost. Pp. 295-308 + 341-342.
"If Lee himself, in private, during his last years, walked a considerable distance along the dark side of the white supremacist road, most Southerners have never wanted to hear that news, any more than they willingly dwelled on the degree to which white supremacy was the dominant Southern white value for decades after the war. More generally, so intent have so many been on taking Lee as hero that it remains difficult to this day for a historian to attempt to rescue the human from the marble man of his posthumous construction (306)." Lee did not want battlefields and statues erected to memorialize the war but it was done after his death as the unreconstructed Southerners held him up as the virtuous soldier. Many of the statues were erected in the early 20th C.
[This is an important chapter and I would note more but the computer time is running out.]
Good index and endnotes, the latter including some comments of value.
My very brief notes for when I use this as collateral reading material.
Introduction. Struggling for Self-Mastery. pp. xiii-xx +313-314
Dr. Feldman introduces readers to Lee as an educator, he is leading Washington College, Lexington, Virginia. He had taken the precepts of Marcus Aurelius to heart and tried to be stoical, focused, and self-possessed. We are reminded of his membership in the ruling class of Virginia. "The man of virtue ought to have no selfish desires and no demanding ego; just a pure concern for service; no feelings uncontrolled by reason and duty, no personal interest or subordination to self-serving groups or political parties (xviii)." Many Southern gentlemen fell short, were wastrels and carousers, but he "made a sustained effort to conform his actual behavior to that set of values all men of his class subscribed to in principal (xviii)." But Lee lived in the 19th C., not the 18th C., and there were businessmen and 'lower orders' active in politics and the aristocrats had to deal with them. He was a member of Virginia society and an officer in the army.
"In a very real sense, the Civil War rescued Robert E. Lee from marginality and obscurity. In it, he learned to focus his values, his talent, and his deepest feelings on the terrible martial problems at hand. Only in combat did Lee discover and express a well of anger and desire for action that allowed him to overcome his lifelong habits of self-abnegation and passivity (xix)."
Chapter One. Patrimony Recaptured. Pp. 1-19 + 314-317.
Dr. Feldman explains the great connections of the ruling class in Virginia through marriage. Unfortunately, Lee was raised in poor circumstances as his father, Light Horse Harry Lee was improvident. His father did write the 1799 oration for Washington, 'First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.'
Epilogue. Hannibal's Ghost. Pp. 295-308 + 341-342.
"If Lee himself, in private, during his last years, walked a considerable distance along the dark side of the white supremacist road, most Southerners have never wanted to hear that news, any more than they willingly dwelled on the degree to which white supremacy was the dominant Southern white value for decades after the war. More generally, so intent have so many been on taking Lee as hero that it remains difficult to this day for a historian to attempt to rescue the human from the marble man of his posthumous construction (306)." Lee did not want battlefields and statues erected to memorialize the war but it was done after his death as the unreconstructed Southerners held him up as the virtuous soldier. Many of the statues were erected in the early 20th C.
[This is an important chapter and I would note more but the computer time is running out.]
Good index and endnotes, the latter including some comments of value.
