This is a very well written book, whose text is both clear and a pleasure to read. The book covers both Lee the man and Lee's campaigns. The author takes a middle ground with respect to Lee. In the 19th and early 20th centuries Lee was painted as a saint who only lost because of the Union's greater manpower and industrial resources. Recently, however, many have pictured Lee in a much less favorable light. The present book, while still favorable to Lee paints a much more nuanced picture of him and his military acumen. I found the picture of Lee the man to be very interesting and complex - with Lee painted as a chivalrous knight of some sort. Highly restrained, he was a product of a father, Light Horse Harry Lee, who was imprisoned for debt and eventually abandoned his family, leaving Robert to care for his ailing mother. Lee became a mass of contradictions - a faithful husband he had mostly women friends to whom he wrote letters that today we might consider somewhat inappropriate. One gets a picture of the knight who would ride into battle carrying the scarf of a woman he would pledge his life to, although in a courtly manner, while remaining faithful to his wife, in a marriage that became increasingly strained.
Lee of this book has his flaws - a tendency to avoid personal conflict, leaving the instead of acting to resolve a problem. Reserved and cautious personally he was aggressive as a general, perhaps too aggressive since his attacks into the Union led to disaster. He was deeply religious, although only sought communion in his 40's. He loved his wife, but was highly critical of her actions and carried on what might be considered as platonic (non-physical) adulterous relations with many women.
This book is not primarily an in-depth detailed study of the battles Lee fought. Rather, it attempt to show how Lee the man formed Lee the general, with his aversion to personal conflict resulting in his tendency to keep poorly performing subordinate commanders at their posts far too long, before eventually getting rid of them. His faith in God led him to develop the plans for a battle, then allow his subordinates to carry our his orders, which were often poorly worded, and often oral, trusting the outcome to the will of God, and all too often with Lee not intervening when his instruction were not being carried out. While Lee the man avoided conflict, his instincts as a general led him to be overly aggressive, preferring a climactic battle instead of a defensive posture, defeating the Union by bleeding it to death through it attacks of his fortified positions. This aggression led to his defeats at Antietam and Gettysburg. .
The book contains 20 maps, notes, a bibliography and an index.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 19, 2023
