Robert E. Lee: A Biography
Robert E. Lee: A Biography book cover

Robert E. Lee: A Biography

by
Price
$16.93
Format
Hardcover
Pages
576
Publisher
W W Norton & Co Inc
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0393037302
Dimensions
6.75 x 1.75 x 9.75 inches
Weight
1.93 pounds

Description

From Publishers Weekly Thomas, a distinguished historian of the Civil War (The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience), has written a major analytical biography of Robert E. Lee. Synthesizing printed and manuscript sources, he presents Lee as neither the icon of Douglas Southall Freeman nor the flawed figure presented by Thomas Connolly. Lee emerges instead as a man of paradoxes, whose frustrations and tribulations were the basis for his heroism. Lee's work was his play, according to the author, and throughout his life he made the best of his lot. Believing that evil springs from selfishness, he found release in service to his family, his country and, not least, to the men he led. One of history's great captains and most beloved generals, he refused to take himself too seriously. This comic vision of life ultimately shaped an individual who was both more and less than his legend. Highly recommended. Photos not seen by PW. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Gen. Robert Edward Lee was a leader who inspired great devotion among the men who followed him, and he continues to inspire great interest to this day. Thomas (The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865, 1979) presents a fresh look at the general. By examining Lee as a person, the biographer renders him intensely human. Lee is shown to be the son of an unstable father, a frustrated husband, and a devoted parent. He encountered many hardships but became great not "because of what he did ...but because of the way he lived." Given the prodigious number of Lee biographies available, this may be an optional purchase, but it is nonetheless a valuable addition to the studies of the general.?Robert A. Curtis, Taylor Memorial P.L., Cuyahoga Falls, OhioCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Thomas positions this life of the Marble Man as a corrective to critical appraisals such as Alan Nolan's Lee Reconsidered (1991). Both authors must contend with Douglas Southall Freeman's enduring R. E. Lee (1934), so what a revealing delight are Thomas' newly mined nuggets that humanize the image of the imperturbable, heroic, saintly, and suffering Lee. Thomas extracts them from Lee's pre^-Civil War career, when he was mastering battlements (as an engineer) before mastering battles. Family life predominates, especially the legacy of Lee's famed father, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, Washington's cavalry chief, who landed in debtors prison. Thomas makes the case that that disgrace impelled the son on a lifelong, if subconscious, quest to repair by personal example the family name; hence Lee's legendary devotion to honor, duty, and courtesy. Perhaps his unspoken embarrassment was compounded by dependence on others for a living (his wealthy wife, the militaries, a college). The war narratives are professionally rendered (Thomas is many times an acclaimed Civil War author), but always in focus is the shy, conflict-avoiding Lee personality, excepting conflicts at the Seven Days and elsewhere, of course. Be Lee traitor or patriot, he is a compelling American figure. This fine work is an obligatory acquisition. Gilbert Taylor Emory Thomas is Regent's Professor of History at the University of Georgia. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Providing a thorough examination of the life of Robert E. Lee, a biography finds meaning in Lee's successes and failures and portrays him as a man struggling with personal inner torments who found release in the responsibilities of war.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(129)
★★★★
25%
(54)
★★★
15%
(32)
★★
7%
(15)
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(-15)

Most Helpful Reviews

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Well written but overly speculative

Because I spent three summers at Arlington House as a National Park Service ranger, I've read a number of books about Robert E. Lee and his family, including Freeman's four volumes twice. Thomas's biography is well written and was especially helpful to me in sorting out aspects of Lee's pre-Civil War career that hadn't made sense to me before. Thomas' treatment of Lee's feckless father, Light Horse Harry, hits close to the mark, and I'm ready to accept Mrs. Lee as more small-minded than I would have credited ten years ago. Thomas is perhaps a bit tough on Lee's father-in-law, G.W.P. Custis, and I would have liked the author to spend more time with Lee's mother-in-law, Mary Fitzhugh Custis, whose influence on Lee and his family was enormous.
Thomas' attempt to read double-entendres into Lee's early pleasantries with younger women is at best strained and at worse anachronistic. Thomas also has an imperfect understanding of evangelical religion in the nineteenth century and seems to think if the low-church Episcopalian Lee didn't discuss a conversion experience, then his confirmation in the church at age 46 was little more than a formality "to support his daughters' conviction" and "to honor his mother-in-law's piety." Thomas' attempt to substitute "God" for "true gentleman" in one of Lee's ruminations about ethics and read into it an "intriguing theological insight" is downright silly. (p. 397)
One serious mistake needs to be corrected: the sensational charge that in June 1862, Lee was so preoccupied with his duties that he forgot his grandson had died and wrote to the boy's mother asking her to "kiss [him] for me." Thomas might have reflected on the improbability of this story and double-checked the primary sources. Actually, the boy died in July. It is a notorious example of information both true and sensational-but with the sensational untrue and the true not sensational.
Lee was not, of course, the myth that he started to become by the end of the Civil War, and Thomas is correct to emphasize Lee as a tragic hero. Nevertheless, Freeman's Lee, the uncomplicated man of duty is closer to the truth than Thomas' paradox striving "to be independent, to be free."
95 people found this helpful
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Lee the man....maybe

Thomas has written a thorough, well-researched albeit opinioned biography of Robert E. Lee that focuses more on the man than the battles. I gave it 4 stars because the entire book was engrossing--never a bit dull. He claims to be middle-of-the-road between the extreme views of Lee. I think he leans quite a bit toward the detractors. Much of his portrayal of the inner man is speculative, in my opinion. While he may well have gotten most of it right, I don't think Thomas has Lee "all figured out" as much as he seems to think he does. His is another opinion on the field of many such. That said, Thomas has delved into the details with extreme scrutiny. You can see that he really tries to be fair. I think maybe most of my disappointment is that I had hoped this book would make Lee less a mystery, and it did not, not for me anyway.
I do highly recommend this book, not only because it has excellent scholarship, but also because it's a pleasure to read--a most difficult combination!
33 people found this helpful
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An objective but sympathetic look at Lee.

I thought this was a personal biography of Robert E. Lee. I think some of the previous reviewers were looking for a military biography. But book talks more about Lee as a man instead of Lee as a military commander. On that, I found the book to be rather refreshing in outlook as the author intregated Lee's personal life into his military performances.
The author appears to be pretty sympathetic toward Lee, as a man with many problems at home before, during and after the Civil War. He writes with clarity and with empathy which helped the reader understand what sort of a man Lee was. While an analyical look, I found the book readable, enlightening and well presented.
23 people found this helpful
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General Lee

As I write this, a few days ago they took Gen. Lee's statue down in Richmond. They've gone too far. Oh yeah, the book. It's the first one I've read on him and may be the last. It was that good. Every phase of the Generals life is covered in great detail. The General and I even have a few things in common. We're both shy and try to avoid confrontations. I was surprised to read that about him.
The author left me with one question. At least three times it is said that the General enjoyed the company of younger women. But no details after that. Were these relationships platonic or more? Just curious.
Anyway I highly recommend this book.
12 people found this helpful
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Solid biography of Lee the man, short on military history

Thomas has given us a post-revisionist portrait of Lee that addresses the general as a human being much better than it presents him as a brilliant military strategist. His complicated relationship with his rakish father, his sainted mother, his demanding wife, and his children are all central foci of the book; his relationships with those outside his family get relatively short shrift. It is amazing how little of this book deals with the actual history of Lee's Civil War battles; more attention seems to be given to his involvement in the Mexican War. Indeed, the book seems to give disproportionate attention to his life prior to the Civil War, with relatively lesser attention to what happened after he became commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia. Since the latter period is that in which he made his mark on history, this focus is rather disappointing. But Thomas does a relatively able job of dispelling the image of Lee as "the marble man," and for that, Civil War afficionados owe him a debt of gratitude.
11 people found this helpful
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Solid biography of Lee the man, short on military history

Thomas has given us a post-revisionist portrait of Lee that addresses the general as a human being much better than it presents him as a brilliant military strategist. His complicated relationship with his rakish father, his sainted mother, his demanding wife, and his children are all central foci of the book; his relationships with those outside his family get relatively short shrift. It is amazing how little of this book deals with the actual history of Lee's Civil War battles; more attention seems to be given to his involvement in the Mexican War. Indeed, the book seems to give disproportionate attention to his life prior to the Civil War, with relatively lesser attention to what happened after he became commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia. Since the latter period is that in which he made his mark on history, this focus is rather disappointing. But Thomas does a relatively able job of dispelling the image of Lee as "the marble man," and for that, Civil War afficionados owe him a debt of gratitude.
11 people found this helpful
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Enlightening but flawed

Emory Thomas promises to deploy the cool eye and analytical prowess of the historian to present a Lee much more vulnerable and flawed than that portrayed in Douglas Southall Freeman's titanic classic, R.E. Lee. And I certainly learned a lot about Robert E. Lee from Thomas's book. He does a good job of summarizing Lee's eventful life and his character, and shows why this defeated Confederate retains a more potent place in American history than most of those who won the Civil War.

I was most struck by his insight that Lee was a man whose deeds were more important that his words. Lee never wrote his memoirs. He gave no important speeches and left no pithy quotes. His letters were pedestrian and full of thoughts on household economy, family vacations, and the fates of various pets. To understand Lee, you have to look at how his actions revealed traits like honesty, courage, and grace. Lee embodied what every Southerner aspired to be. For many, he still does.

On a personal level, I also liked reading about Lee's careers as engineer, soldier, and educator. It's reassuring to realize that famous historical figures were actually fellow human beings who suffered the same frustrations as anybody else.

When Thomas strayed from his historian role, I found the book less satisfying. He puts Lee on the couch, psychoanalyzing his thoughts about God and his relationships with his ne'er-do-well father, self-sacrificing mother, crabby wife, and underachieving kids. I saw precious little evidence for some of Thomas's conclusions.

Similarly, I was shocked at the harsh and unsympathetic portrait that Thomas paints of Mary Lee. I was disturbed to realize that Thomas cherry-picked quotes from both Robert and Mary's letters to make Mary look bad, and I wonder why it was so important to him to do so.
7 people found this helpful
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From boyhood to university president this is a great biography of Robert E Lee

The book arrived on time and in perfect condition. The biography is very well written and is an amazing portrait of Robert E Lee. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in this General.
3 people found this helpful
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A good update to Robert E. Lee

Emory Thomas gives a southerners perspective on the life of Robert E. Lee. The preface of this book gives the reader a sense that they will be given a pro-southern view of the war and while that is true at times the biography is generally balanced well. Lee is portrayed as a hero which he was to the south and shown as a military genius which was mostly true. Lee accomplished amazing things by bold actions and the principles of movement and concentration. This book tracks his childhood where he lived in the shadow of a father who was a failure. It then moves to his years at West Point where he excelled and graduated at the top of his class. He was given several assignments across the country from building a fort in Savannah to defending the Mississippi near St. Louis. He even spent time in New York City rebuilding forts there before heading off to war in the 1848 Mexican American War. Lee served with distinction in the war and learned a great deal from Winfield Scott about fighting an offensive war with smaller numbers than the enemy. He would take these lessons to heart against the north.

Lee would refuse both the United States Army and the Confederacy when they offered him posts in their armies. It was only when his home state of Virginia left the union that he accepted command of all Virginia militias. As the militias were absorbed into the army Lee found himself without a command. Jefferson Davis would use Lee as a roving advisor helping to make overall strategic decisions, a sort of Halleck of the South initially. Lee would eventually take command of the army once Johnston was sent out to command the Army of Tennessee. This would be a post that Lee kept throughout the entire war. Lee was able to achieve stunning victories by daring action but in the end resources were against him. Lee correctly believed that his army had to achieve victory very quickly because a war of attrition favored the north. Unfortunately for Lee he was at times too bold and all of the battles are categorized well here. For a book written in 1995 there is a good deal of attention paid to the west which is now considered a vital battlefield. Lee was forced to surrender after a vicious battle near Appomattox courthouse where PA miners actually blew up a whole underneath his army. Lee won daring defensive victories but each time his army was smaller and his position more tenuous. After the war Lee accepted a post to become President of Washington College in Lexington. It was a post he would excel at. Lee would not become a citizen of the union until historians discovered his petition in 1975 when Congress made him a citizen again. This biography provides an excellent and balanced look at Robert E. Lee's life. I would highly recommend for Civil War scholars who want an updated biography and one that is not too biased in one direction.
3 people found this helpful
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the whole man

thomas does an extraordinary job of descibing the whole man in this book. It in no way glamourizes Lee as a man. It tells much about his shortcomings as a husband and father and friend. Robert E lee was not larger than life and Thomas makes that clear. In relation to relating Lee's shortcomings;however,Thomas often mentions Lee's zeal for women other than his wife but never makes it known if these liasions with other women were platonic or otherwise adulturous. All in all it is a detailed and informative work.
3 people found this helpful

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