Book Description
Recollections and Letters shows all the varying facets of Lee's character. His letters reveal his personal warmth, bravery and concern for the South during and after the war. No other collection of source materials gives such a whole and rewarding picture of one of the South's greatest sons and heroes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Memory of Lee
This is one of the best books about Lee! It is written from his youngest's son's point of view. It's a great book for every library.

A Measure of the Marble Man
Robert E. Lee never had the chance to pen his own autobiography as U.S. Grant did. He meant to, but kept holding it off until heart disease claimed his life five years after the surrender of Appomattox.

Many of those who served under him during the Civil War wrote biographies of the great Confederate General, claiming to know how he felt, and what he thought. But only two of them really came close. The ponderous but solidly written "Memoirs of Robert E. Lee" by his Aide, Colonel Long, and this volume, comprised of letters actually written by Lee, and the remembrances of those who knew him well, and none more so than the author of the book, his own son, Captain Robert E.Lee, Jr.

Captain Lee describes his childhood in the Lee household, of General Lee's love of animals, especially horses. He describes a man who smiled, was warm, as compared to the austere, solemn descriptions and illustrations of him once the Civil War commenced. He writes how Lee agonized within his own family of the decision to leave the U.S. Army, and then join the Confederacy, even though wishing for a quiet, neutral life, and of Lee's personal losses during the war - a daughter who passed on, a son wounded and captured, the son's frail wife also passing on, and the known loss of their dearly beloved home in Arlington, which was turned into the national cemetery of the same name.

Captain Lee studiously avoids the controversial sides of Lee, his stand on slavery or the rights of the South, concentrating mainly on the personality of man and how he dealt with others.
This is a volume that belongs on the shelf of any Civil War buff, especially those interested in the life of Robert E. Lee.
I recommend this book, and Burke Davis' "Gray Fox" be purchased together. ... Read more

Book Description
A soldier, a politician, and an author, General Fitzhugh Lee (1835-1905) had earlier attended West Point as a cadet and proved to be a boisterous challenge to the superintendent of the Academy, who was also his uncle: Robert E. Lee. Fitzhugh developed an abiding affection and respect for Lee, culminating in the nephew's brilliant service to the Confederate cause. On his part, Lee commended Fitzhugh as "an excellent cavalry officer. . . . I feel at liberty to call upon him-on all occasions." It was Fitzhugh who discovered how vulnerable Joseph Hooker's right was and thus enabled Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson to plan the war's most famous flanking movement at the battle of Chancellorsville. Later, Fitzhugh's cavalry covered the final retreat of Lee's exhausted army to Appomattox. After the war, his close relationship with his uncle continued, finding its best expression in Fitzhugh's biography, General Lee, which is valuable both as a passionate portrait of the celebrated general and as a historical document. Fitzhugh enjoyed the great advantage of access to Lee's unpublished private papers and used them generously, so that the strongest voice the reader encounters is not the author's, but his subject's. The book covers Lee's early service in the Mexican War through his masterful command during the Seven Days Battle and later at Second Manassas, Sharpsburg Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg, up to his surrender and last years. General Lee admits readers into the mind of the South's greatest hero and permits them to relive the immense achievements his military genius won against enormous odds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Of interest to fans of Robert E Lee
from the prospective that it does include personal letters from Lee. The recounting of the campaigns is prefunctory though Fitzhugh does come down heavily on Longstreet and eagerly takes up the cudgel for the Gettysburg-wasn't-Lee's-fault crowd.

Pretty Good
As a the great-great-great-great grandson of Robert W. Lee and his slave/mistress Ophelia, I thought this book provided a profound insight into the life of the man who led the Army of Northen Virginia to so many improbable victories.

Not quite a biography, but...
I am a student of the civil war, and I've made most of my studies from Actual Memoirs of the event. I figured that I'd rather take the word of the people who were actually there than 3rd person commentary. I've read Grant, Sheridan, J.B. Gordon, E.P. Alexander, and of course, Sam Watkins, Frank Wilkeson, and Berry Benson, to name some of the best. Regrettably, Robert Lee died before he could record his own personal reminiscences. Through my desire to read about him in the same way I'd read about other participants of the war, I found this book-and I figured that Fitzhugh Lee's biography would be as near as I could get to the famed General, for Fitzhugh Lee was not only a Relative of the famed General's, but a General himself in the War of the Rebellion. Half way through the book, I felt thoroughly betrayed. After the first 70 pages, the book becomes the most average of monologues about the movements of troops during the civil war. The only difference between this book and the memoirs of certain other officers engaged in the same battles is the Fitzhugh Starts his recitations with, "General Lee's Order were that...", and has less maps, that usually ease the strain of describing obscure movements.
I will say, though, that the author does spend at least a quarter of the book On the life of R.E. Lee outside of the civil war- the first 70 pages focusing on his Lineage, his training at West point, and his engagements in Mexico, and the Last 20 on his Presidency at Washington-Lee College. Also, sparsely placed throughout the book, Fitzhugh makes use of General Lee's personal correspondance with his wife and family. I would have appreciated seeing more of that, but people 150 years late to the party can't be choosers. Of the Author's style, it is mostly factual, highly romantic(though nothing like Gordon's memoir), and at times he makes allusions and references that let you know he's highly intelligent. This Book doesn't make any in-depth study of General Lee, and mostly considers his character to be untouchable....

I, too...
...read and enjoyed this book.Being the recently acknowledged illegitimate child of General Lee, I agree that it is a worthy book.

Very Informative
I found this book to be wonderful. I used it in a research report and it was very helpful. It stood out among the other hundreds of Lee biographies ... Read more

Download Description
A loving remembrance of the Confederate General by his son ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great view of the man not the legand
So much has been written about Robert E. Lee that only a select few can see him as anything but larger than life. Written by his son Captain Robert E. Lee this work give a detalied look at the Gernerals private life anddetails his tran of thought. This book is perfect for any one interesed inwhat the man behinde the legand was relly like. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (8)

A Disappointment
I found the book "The Marble Man" to be disappointing in several ways.The author, Thomas L Connelly, attempts to illustrate that the modern notion of Robert E. Lee as a selfless leader, great general, noble gentleman, and devoted family man is the result of a vast Virginian conspiracy.
Connelly's composition leaves something to be desired.The prologue, chapters, and epilogue seem to be thrown together in a way that shouldn't be described as "seamless".He is repetitive with quotes, often using the same quote from the same person several times (sometimes to convey different meanings).Throughout the book, one is waiting for the big "hook", or the "zinger" where Connelly will finally show his indisputable truth that Lee is not what he seems to be.This never arrives.
Connelly is certainly a well known historian, but not much of a Theologian.The "God thing" is throughout the book and really bothers/baffles Connelly.At various times he identifies Robert E Lee as a Calvinist, an Episcopalian, and a Puritan.Lee was a very devout Christian and attended the Episcopalian denominational churches most of his life.Connelly describes many of Lee's beliefs as "other-worldliness" and a "fixation on death".No time here to go into this in depth, but Connelly scratched the surface of something his just doesn't get.
One huge goal of many post modern historians is to bring the great down (no evidence necessary) and to elevate the base."Lincoln was a homosexual"..."Clinton a great leader for his time" The beat goes on.

The Marble Man
I must say that the Marble Man is a good read. I can say this from two perspectives. First, I read the book and thouroughly enjoyed it. Second, Dr. Connelly was my professor and advisor at the University of South Carolina from 1986 until 1988. I cannot express enough what an experience it was to sit in one of his classes and listen to his lectures. It was like being transported back in time to the battle or period we were covering that day. The students would wait with anticipation before he arrived and didn't want to leave when the class was over because the transportation back in time would end when we'd leave the classroom.I remember Dr. Connelly's assessment of Lee quite well. While Lee was a good general, he did tend to be wasteful with resources and has become overrated with time. I strongly encourage the reader of this review to read anything written by Dr. Connelly. He was an amazing man.

The marble man
Connelly argues that Robert E. Lee's heroic image was largely created post-war by a small group of Virginians, and goes on to give what he regards as a more accurate assessment.

While agreeing that the post-war canonization of Lee imposed some distortions upon historians which modern scholars do well to avoid, several things about this study didn't convince me. Firstly, Connelly spends little time analyzing Lee's popularity during the war, which rose after the Peninsula campaign and remained high through the end; Lee and his army were a significant image and source of morale to all Southerners, not just Virginians, at that time.

Secondly, Connelly makes various statements about personalities and psychological quirks -- Mary Custis Lee was "unpleasant", Lee was morbid and death-obsessed -- in the presence of limited supporting evidence and of no discussion of the mentalities, religious faith, and social norms of the time. (His idiosyncratic assessment of individuals includes a characterization of Fitz Lee as the worst of Lee's cavalry commanders -- even considering the shadbake incident, that seems like too strong a statement when one considers that Fitz' competition for the worst would include candidates such as Grumble Jones and the luckless Lunsford Lomax.)

This study does reveal the ugly post-war squabble for the portrayal of history in all its inglory.

Beyond the Facade
This book might be approached as an examination of how a well-known personality is transformed for a human being into a cultural icon. Sequentially and chronologically Connelly takes his readers through that process using Robert E. Lee as the item of investigation. Along the way, Connelly makes commentary on the differences between the cultures of the north and south and how Lee's legion spread because of those cultural differences. That context has been well-established by numerous writers. Connelly simply uses it for a closer examination of Lee. For example, on page 102 he quotes another historian, Bradley T. Johnson in writing "Environmental factors had forced North and South to develop contrasting socieites. The North, 'invigorated' by constant struggle with nature, became materialistic, grasping for wealth and power. The South's 'more generous climate' had wrought a life-style based upon non-materialism and adherence to a finer code of 'veracity and honor in man, chastity and fidelity in women'"
This book helps a person to understand how history evolves in the process of retelling over a period of several generations.

A Hard Look at Lee and The Lost Vause Syndrome
This book is not just a revisionist look at Robet E. Lee but also an objective evaluation of the Southern Lost Cause Syndrome that utilzed Lee as their flagship for a just cause. Thomas Connelly is a great writer of the western theater notably the history of the Army of the Tennessee and of the western Confederate cabal that had conflicts with Jefferson Davis. Connelly offers what southerners and partiucularly Virginians may find as a harsh evaluation of Lee during the war. This book also includes some psycho-analysis that offers some reasoning for Lee's very formal demeanor which is in far contrast's to Joe Johnston whose troops would pat him on the head on occasion but not dare approach Lee in such an informal manner. In my opinion the book demonstrates that Lee was simply not infallible like amy man who has overall responsibility, he must accept some of the blame for failure. There is also the question of whether Lee was too aggressive with limited manpower (Gary Gallagher has referred to this as crucial, that the Confederacy was in serious need of military victories for morale). The Lost Cause contingent made up of Jubal Early and company always gave Lee total credit for victory but not in defeat, Early & company always made someone other than Lee a scapegoat in their version of history. Gettysburg serves as the grand indictment of this philosophy where Longstreet becomes the total goat at Gettysburg in the 1870's while one of his accusers, Early, covers his own lackluster performance by publicly hanging Longstreet. Early raps himself with the cloak of Robert E. Lee to deflect criticism of his own actions and post war exile. To my mind, Connaly expolores better than anyone else the self serving relationship of Jubal Early to the Lost Cause syndrome in Early's attempt to rewite history. Connelly brings out that Jackson was the south's great hero until Lee's death and the emergence of Lee's rise among southern writers. He also argues that Lee lacked a national picture of how to best serve the Confederacy by his opposing transferring troops west to bolster those failing armies with limited resources. He argues that Virginia was Lee's first and main focus. Highly reccommend this book, whether you agree or not, Connelly makes you look at the facts presented and while not meaning to destroy Lee's image of a competent and charismatic general, it tends to show him as human and mortal who like everyone made some mistakes. We all have to look at historians presentations carefully, even Douglas Freeman in Lee's Lieutanents slightly diminishes Jackson's role and he makes Longstreet shorter, fatter and a plotter of self grandization. This is an intellectually challenging book best appreciated by those that have an open mind. This book most likely helped foster Alan Nolan's "Lee Considered." ... Read more

Book Description
An intriguing blend of fact and fiction, this engrossing novel explores the question: What if the Confederacy called Robert E. Lee to account for his tragic failure at Gettysburg? Using a court-martial trial as the novel's centerpiece, Savage weaves an intimate portrait of Lee as a man free of the myths of history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Court Martial of Robert E. Lee
This book does not work on any level. Once again, it proves that extensive research isn't enough to make a historical novel good.

Savage postulates that Lee is court-martialed over the defeat at Gettysburg, the trial taking place some time during the winter of 1863. This gives Savage an opportunity to run through all of Lee's battles (with a side trip to Jackson's Valley Campaign) and command decisions up until then. As an amateur scholar who enjoys reading nonfiction studies, I still found these segments excruciatingly boring. The more fictional bits, the court-martial itself, were slow as well and the characterization seemed flawed. Savage doesn't have anything interesting to say about Lee, his leadership, and why he should or should not have been court-martialed; he recaps other scholars' arguments with no particular insight.

The use of language in this book was horrifically bad. This is an example:

"He had foresworn strong drink as a teenager for his mother."

Whoa. Think about that one a while.

Despite the work the author has apparently put in, I see no reason whatsoever why anyone would want to read this book.

really pretty good
i enjoyed this book immensely being an avid civil war buff and all.a great book for those who really love history

A "novel" that could of been alot better
This book is semi-enjoyable for its quotes of famous individuals in the Civil War, but at the end leaves the reader unsatisfied.If the author decided to "spicen" up this book with more controversialindividuals associated with the Confederacy, i.e. Nathan Bedford Forrest,Braxton Bragg, and added some life to these members and others in the book,it could of been a treat to read.The author decided to use to much directquotes from individuals, and did not use his own imagination to make thelife, court martial and thoughts of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis andothers more interesting. Overall a dry and unsatisfying read.

Rather disappointing
I picked up this book with great expectations; in retrospect perhaps toogreat.Even allowing for the fact that the author is not a trained writerI found this novel disappointing.I am not an ardent Civiil War buff,though I do read a lot of Military History, yet upon reading this book Ididn't learn anything new.The style of the book was also disappointing. It had the tenor of a high-school professor trying to sneak a historylesson past an unsuspecting student.There were tedious passagesdescribing the street layout of Richmond, and repeated reminders of variouscharacters relationship to other characters.In short, I cannotrecommend this book, even though I tried to make allowances for the author.I ended up donating my copy to the local library book sale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Perhaps TOO highly imaginative
I bought this book because I'd been told it provides remarkable insight into the humanity of Robert E. Lee.It does indeed bring him to life, but is this the real Robert E. Lee that's been resurrected?The author certainly takes complete liberty to speculate on his inner thoughts.She no doubt got a lot of it right.But...I took issue with some of her revelations.For example, she suggests in the book that Lee had at least one extramarital affair and that it was known to Mary Lee, who never quite forgave him.There is absolutely no evidence that Lee ever dallied, and to the contrary, all evidence suggests that he never did.I didn't care for this aspect of the book.The man is dead...why sully his character?

The major disappointment for me was that I imagined this was going to be a time-travel story.Since I had enjoyed Turtledove's "Guns of the South" so much, I couldn't wait to tackle this book.It was like an airplane that never got off the ground....just rolled along and along and along.It turned out to be a very unlikely story of a very neurotic and immature girl and some weird supporting characters.

Okay, now that I've bashed the book terribly, let me compliment it.It is highly imaginative.The author is obviously a capable writer, and this is a worthy effort.I just had a different expectation coming in.

an intrigue that has triggered a compulsion
Was in the authors G thru I section of my favorite used bookstore when the title of this book caught my eye.The description on the back seemed interesting, and it was certainly different from anything I had been reading, so I bought it with a, "Why not?" attitude.I absolutely love this book.I literally wept over Lee's last days in battle, and the book has kindled in me a desire to learn all about the Civil War.I am now deep into Shelby Foote's trilogy and have also purchased a dozen or so other Civil War books recommended by various experts on the net.Also, I bought two more copies of M.A. Harper's book from Amazon so that I could send one to a sister in N.C. and keep one extra to loan to friends.I am an uprooted Southerner (by choice), born the same year as the author, who identifies with so much she has written.This book has caused me to rethink so many things I had stopped thinking about, and has given me new pride in my birthplace and heritage.I may even go back to the South to wind up my days--I understand things differently, now; I no longer feel ashamed of where I'm from.I know I'm laying a lot at this book's door, but it affected me most profoundly, in many different ways.And I am always reading, I'm never without a book--I'm picky about what I'll spend my time reading, and I won't waste my time with junk.Harper's book just blew me away!I hope she keeps writing.

thoughtful page turner, black humor
I had heard about this book from somebody who had similary enjoyed the same speculative (not quite sci-fi) novels I like, and was sort of blown away by its oddity and fresh voice. Reality merges with time travel. Or is it all in the mind? What I like is the confusion of past and present, Civil War era with the 1960's. The author questions the nature of time itself, but isn't afraid to write paragraghs almost incongruously funny, especially when viewed against serious and rather tragic historical material. A strange and entertaining read.

Re: Not a romance novel (review already posted 11/18/00)
I think I need to retract the (very favorable) review I just wrote about this book yesterday. The author is a very close personal friend, and believes it unethical for me to submit it. Maybe she's right, because I am partial to her in many things, although my stated opinion of the work is true. In any case, she doesn't want to see her credibility questioned in any way, so please squelch my review, since she's pretty worried about this. Thank you.

Not a romance novel
I postponed reading it because it did not seem like something male readers would like, even though Civil War historians have praised it. But I received it as a gift and was pleasantly surprised, even intrigued. Robert E. Lee becomes a real person in these pages, with insight that I have never seen anywhere else. Readers who regard this book as a classic are correct. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

R.E. Lee, Man and Gentleman...
"Lee" is an excellent one-volume abridgment of Douglas Southall Freeman's epic four-volume life of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.Freeman's original work, published in 1934, was based on over two decades of research into Lee's correspondence and military dispatches, and clearly benefited from contacts with friends, family members, and veterans of the Civil War who had known Lee in life.Richard Harwell's abridgment, at nearly 600 pages, is still an heroic length, but far more managable for the general reader.

The Lee that emerges from this biography is a man who very consciously drew his sense of duty and responsibility from his Revolutionary War forebears.His father, "Light House" Harry Lee, was one of George Washington's cavalry commanders.His wife was a step-granddaughter of Washington himself.Lee knew genteel poverty as a youth, and the burden of caring for younger siblings and an invalid mother.Lee finished second in his class at West point, the result of the disciplined application of an excellent mind and the conscious molding of a self-controlled personality into an officer and a gentlemen in the very best sense of those terms.

Lee's exploits in the Civil War have overshadowed his long apprenticeship in arms, following his graduation from West Point in 1829.As an engineer officer, Lee spent the pre-war years working on a variety of military and civil engineering projects around the young United States, learning the challenges of planning and logistics.His superb performance in the Mexican War on the staff of Commanding General Winfield S. Scott made his reputation in the Army, and gave him opportunities for line assignments in the cavalry he would otherwise have not seen.However, the glacial pace of peacetime promotion prevailed, and by 1861, Lee was only a Colonel.His talents were such that he was immediately considered for general officer command as the Civil War loomed.

Lee's decision to go with his native state of Virginia at the breakup of the Union is one that may be opaque to present-day readers; Freeman does his best to explain Lee's reasons.Freeman's narrative likewise does justice to Lee's increasingly central role in the conduct of the Confederate military effort.The bulk of this volume covers the Civil War, and Freeman does not spare Lee his faults in what was by all accounts a remarkable effort against the odds.Lee was an exceptional strategist and logistician, but his preference for delegating battlefield management to subordinates cost him in a number of battles, especially later in the war as less experienced men took command.Likewise, Lee paid a price for his reluctance to enforce his will on stubborn subordinates.Freeman highlights Lee's conduct of civil-military relations with the Confederate Government in Richmond.

Freeman's account of Lee's brief life after the Civil War may be especially illuminating of the man.Lee accepted the military outcome of the war and got on with his life, in the face of grief over losses, personal poverty, and sometimes studied insults from victorious Unionists.He lent his still considerable talents as an administrator, and his reputation, to small Washington College, saving it from extinction and turning it into a first-rate college for the young men of the South.

Freeman's scholarship, especially in his analysis of the Civil War, is now somewhat dated.However this book is still very highly recommended for its insights into the personality and character of Robert E. Lee, man and gentleman.

Definitive, sort of......
From the time I was a toddler close to 60 years ago, I was taught that Robert E. Lee was, except for Jesus Christ, the greatest man who ever lived. A lifetime of study has confirmed my parents' opinion...I am NOT unbiased about General Lee. If Robert E. Lee was the greatest man, Douglas Souhthall Freeman was the greatest Civil War author, and he's not unbiased, either.

Anyone reading this probably already knows Lee's story...born of a great mother and a useless father whose earlier greatness was long forgotten... raised in aristocratic poverty....West Point with no demerits...30+ years in the Army as an engineer, with brief combat in Mexico...offered command of the Union Army...a man who cried as he followed Virginia out of the Union...took over the Army of Northern Virginia a year into the war and made it, man for man, the greatest fighting force the world has ever known...held off a vastly larger, and better supplied, Army for three years...surrendered, then set the example for his men in becoming citizens of one nation...accepted the Presidency of a small college, and, in the five and a half years he had left, started it on the road to becoming the world-class school it is today...served God to the end, suffering his final heart attack while running a Vestry meeting at the Church pastored by one of his old generals.

In 1915, a young newspaperman named Douglas Southall Freeman accepted a contract to write a 75,000 word biography of General Lee. Born in Lynchburg, the son of one of Lee's troops, he had learned about the General at a young age. Twenty years after starting, Dr. Freeman finally finished his 1,000,000 word biography, and saw it published in four volumes; those four volumes ARE definitive, and the greatest biography in the English language.

Richard Harwell, who knew Dr. Freeman, made this one volumeabridgment in the 1960's [and also a very fine one volume version of Freeman's "George Washington"]....it is very probably the best one volume study of Lee available, for which Harwell would give ALL the credit to Dr. Freeman. OK, what is lost in the abridging? Fair question if you're spending your money for this...I'm going to round numbers. Freeman takes 400 pages for the first 54 years [100 for Mexico], 1,600 for the war, and 400 for the last five and a half years. Harwell has roughly 100 [27 for Mexico], 400 and 100. Lost are the footnotes, the appendecies, the bibliography, much of the dialog, and most of the redundencies....

Should you buy, and read this? Definitely. There are a LOT of one volume biographies of General Lee, ranging from kid's versions, to good, bad, and indifferent. Two or three are by men who actually met him. Harwell has done a superb job. Now the real question....do you need to read the whole four volumes? If you are a poor soul like me, you already have. Your best bet would be a used set, but if affordable, they may not be in good shape, and if in good shape, they may be expensive. [I was lucky to find a decent set for $35]. ["Lee's Lieutenants" is easy to find at a good price, and "George Washington" is impossible]. There were badly overpriced paperbacks available, but I'm not sure they still are; there is a beautiful leather bound edition in print, but you can imagine the price. The four volumes are definitive, and very readable....while you're deciding, read this first...

Needs More Maps
I enjoyed reading this book but it was sometimes hard to figure out what happenned in each of the battles since there was typically only one map for each battle.In fact the map for gettysburg did not even show where any of the troops were at any time during the battle.

If you want to read this book I would recommend having maps of the battlefields that you could refer to.This would help you figure out what is going on better.

Lee
This was purchased for a book report.The book was a great source of information.

A Real American Hero
This book was a fantastic education on Robert E. Lee.General Lee was not just a Confederate hero, but an all-American hero.He had a character that all men would do well to emulate.It is too bad that his birthday is not a national holiday.Thank you for reading this review. ... Read more