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5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent small study......, July 8, 2009
A friend, and respected Civil War author, recommended this to me recently. I already knew of Dr. Roland's work from his "Albert Sidney Johnston: Soldier of Three Republics", which is one of the VERY finest of Civil War books. This small volume makes no pretense of reaching that level, and, even though it's classed as "biography", it is such only in the loosest sense. It DOES NOT replace Dr. Freeman's monumental "RE Lee", nor does it pretend to.
What we have here is a superb character study, looking at General Lee's qualities as an Officer, and as a man, thru the lens of his life events. He praises Lee's strengths, and faces his flaws. The flaws were few, indeed. As Freeman said, and Roland says differently, "His virtue as a man was his fault as a leader". He was too amiable, but, had it been otherwise, the Army of Northern Virginia would have dissolved in squabbling the way the Army of Tennessee did. General Lee simply did things no other man could have done. With few men and resources, he dern near brought it off. He is an AMERICAN, not just a Southern, icon for a reason.
This is a superbly written little book. (Took me about two hours to read). Dr. Roland is definitely "pro-Lee"; so am I, and if that colors my review, so be it. I suppose it will mainly appeal to "people like me", but, really, it might make a pretty decent introduction for anybody. There are MANY Lee books out there, good, bad, and indifferent. Dr. Freeman remains, and shall forever, the Holy Grail, but this is not a bad place to start.
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