The Marble Man [Paperback]

Thomas Lawrence Connelly (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 249 pages
• Publisher: Louisiana State University Press (July 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807104744
• ISBN-13: 978-0807104743
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #880,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Hard Look at Lee and The Lost Vause Syndrome, December 9, 2001

By 

Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Marble Man (Paperback)

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."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Academic Assessment of Lee's Legacy, July 27, 2008

By 

Ozark Trail Outrider (Jenks, OK) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Marble Man (Paperback)

I generally enjoy anything written by Thomas Connelly and this book was no exception. It is a very academic approach to dissecting the reasons why we revere Lee as a great leader of the "Lost Cause" for Southern Independence.

Many of Connelly's assertions will be unsettling for those hardcore fans of R.E. Lee. I myself was uncomfortable with some of what Connelly serves up as the reasons for Lee's eventual canonization in American culture.

But it is also hard to ignore some of the well argued reasons for Lee's place in history. I was particulary intriqued with Jubal Early's role in creating the "legends" surrounding Lee. Early was certainly one Southern General who might have been expected to despise Marse Robert. And indeed, Connelly paints a portrait of a man driven to place Lee on a pedestal to in some small way, regain his commander's affection.

And of course there were deeper seated needs that Southerners had for enobling the "Lost Cause" by revering a leader, whose moral character and leadership were unchallenged.

Connelly does a good job of making the reader really think about the motivations of those people who created some of the myths surrounding Lee. In the end, they needed to believe in the greatness of Lee, because the greatness of the cause was so suspect in the end.

Connelly's treatment does not diminish Lee. Instead, the real man begins to emerge from the marble of time and history. And indeed, the real R.E. Lee was a very great man indeed.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Marble Man, October 12, 2005

By 

Mike Ardis "Mike" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Marble Man, Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society (Hardcover)

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.