Lee: The Last Years [Paperback]

Charles Bracelen Flood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1998

After his surrender at Appomattox, Robert E. Lee lived only another five years - the forgotten chapter of an extraordinary life. These were his finest hours, when he did more than any other American to heal the wounds between North and South. Flood draws on new research to create an intensely human and a "wonderful, tragic, and powerful . . . story for which we have been waiting over a century" (Theodore H. White).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"wonderful, tragic, and powerful . . . story for which we have been waiting over a century." -- Theodore H. White

"Unforgettable." The Philadelphia Inquirer

"An American Classic." Atlanta Journal Constitution

From the Publisher

7 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books; 1st Mariner Books Ed edition (September 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395929741
• ISBN-13: 978-0395929742
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #12 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lee, Robert E.
  • #60 in Books > History > Americas > United States > Civil War > Confederacy

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Officer and a Gentleman February 3, 2003

By Richard A. Libby

Format:Paperback

This book shows a side of Robert E. Lee that seems to have been lost in the history books. After the end of the Civil War, we hear little or nothing about General Lee. In truth, he died five years after the war ended, but he made the most of that time in trying to repair the damage done by the war. This book is an excellent chronicle of those years.

Lee lost most of his property during the war. He was a career soldier, and didn't have many prospects for employment. He hoped to move onto a farm and to live quietly in the country.

However, other plans were being made for him. The trustees of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, voted unanimously to offer him a job as president of the college. Lee was not a professional educator (although he had served as superintendent of West Point), but the trustees believed that his leadership and integrity were just what the college needed to survive the harsh economy left by the war. For his part, Lee saw this as an opportunity to help young Southern men to become productive citizens.

The college's wager paid off. Enrollment grew each year that Lee spent at the helm. The college developed new programs, and Lee's stature and good reputation were such that Washington College received large donations from philanthropists, even in the Northern states. Lee took a personal interest in the students, learning to address them by name and taking responsibility for disciplinary measures.

Yet Lee's last five years were not years of unabated bliss. His health declined steadily, his wife was an invalid, his brother died, and his reputation suffered from some unjust attacks in Northern newspapers. Throughout it all, Lee held his head high and maintained his dignity, his character, and his principles.

Lee put much effort into healing the wounds left by the war. He appreciated the esteem in which he was held by his fellow Southerners, but he encouraged them to be loyal citizens of the United States of America. He never said a word against General U.S. Grant, and even rebuked an employee of Washington College who did. One of the most fascinating (and mysterious) episodes in the book is Lee's trip to Washington, D.C., to visit President Grant in the White House. No one else was present for the meeting, and so no one really knows what they discussed.

The book ends abruptly with an account of Lee's death, without going reporting on his funeral and his family's life without him. Even so, this book makes great reading and has fascinating insights into the private life of an American icon.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very moving December 11, 2000

By M. Smith

Format:Paperback

I have a real passion for the American Civil War and, if truth be told, I usually enjoy reading about it from a Southern perspective. I am though no Robert E. Lee worshipper and can see the good and the bad in the man and the soldier. He was not the perfect general and he did make mistakes (some very costly) but he is a fascinating character and any understanding of him leads to an appreciation of duty and honour. In those respects he was a paragon of virtue.

I'd read so much about Lee during the war that I needed something more, to find out what happened to him after the war. Charles B. Flood provided that "something" and I am so happy that I decided to go for this purchase. It was a snap decision but one I shall never regret.

The first ten chapters of the book are worth the price of purchase on their own, dealing as they do with the surrender of the marvellous Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox and the subsequent weeks and months as Lee made his way back to Richmond and waited to see what fate awaited him at the hands of the victorious Union.

I don't believe Flood was laying it on too thickly but the devotion felt towards Lee by his old soldiers (Pickett excepted of course) and the civilian population of the South are incredible. The stories of soldiers coming to see him before they set off on foot to return home are just so moving and Lee will not say no to anybody who wishes to see him.

After those opening incredible chapters things slow down somewhat and we learn of Lee's transition into what could be called a 'normal' life which sees him take up the presidency of the Lexington College in Virginia. It's not rivetting stuff by any stretch of the imagination but it's interesting and we gain a greater insight into what drives Robert E. Lee... duty and honour. He could have cashed in on his name a thousand times to retire a wealthy man, but he would not sell out and knows that his example, a dutiful one, will be followed by so many former Confederates in those dark post-war days.

Lee also refuses to incriminate his former comrades when pressed to do so and it is a measure of his standing even in the North that no-one dares to bring charges against him, despite the clamour from some sections of society that he be tried for treason.

The picture that Flood paints of Lee is not always flattering though. He is shown to be a stubborn man in some respects and his family are always in awe of him, especially his daughters, of whom he is extremely possessive. So much so that all three will die spinsters!

One of the last things that Lee does before his death in 1870 is to go on a short trip into the deep south and that again provides an incredible picture of his standing in the old Confedracy. Though he craves privacy word gets out that he is on a train and telegrams break the news ahead of his journey. Consequently, thousands turn up just to get a glimpse of him, with old soldiers bringing their children (man of who have been named after Lee). It is a very moving account of just how deeply his people felt for him.

My only complaint is that I would have liked just a little more reaction to lee's death around the South. How did the people react? What did the papers say? That sort of thing. An omission that could easily have been avoided in my opinion.

All in all though a hearty well done to Charles B. Flood for an excellent biography of Lee's last years. If my review sounds a little soppy then believe me, the book isn't. It is a solid, fair and well constructed picture of the last years of Robert E. Lee's life. It may move you in ways you weren't expecting though!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great writer, great historian and great biographer! September 27, 2003

By Jackie Tortorella VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Flood has produced a masterpiece that reveals the personality and character of Lee more than any book I've read. Lee's tremendous contribution to society after the war is presented in such an enjoyable, readable manner that each revelation unlocked about the inner man becomes a delight to the reader. I read this book in two sittings because I was so entranced by it. The author does not write from a hero-worship perspective but rather allows the facts and anecdotes of Lee's family life speak for themselves. It is for the reader to conclude that Lee had one of the most fully integrated characters a man can possess--honor, self-discipline, love of his Creator, humility, regard for all people, and an innate sense of fairness and reason. Lee lived only five years after the war but these years were spent performing maximum service to the South and to the US at large. It's a shame that so many books about Lee focus mainly on battle strategies and have the agenda of supporting the lost cause or revisionist view of why the South lost. If you are interested only in battle statistics and strategies, this book may not excite you, but if you want to really know the man himself, don't miss this treasure of a book.