Virginia's General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War [Library Binding]

Albert Marrin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

The companion volume to Unconditional Surrender: U. S. Grant and the Civil War provides an in-depth study of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, discussing his West Point education, military career, campaigns, and personal life and beliefs.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-A companion to Marrin's Unconditional Surrender (Atheneum, 1994), in which the author represented Grant and the Union's story of the war. Here, he turns with equal style and integrity to Lee and the South. The first chapter combines details of Lee's early life with national political events, thus deftly setting the stage for the engrossing developments to come: Lee's leadership of the Army of Northern Virginia against a parade of ineffectual Union generals, the initial successes of Confederate forces, the turning point of Gettysburg, and finally the opposition of Grant. This is not a straight reportage of facts; instead, it is a complicated and well-considered mesh of personal anecdotes, letters, reports, songs, images, and events. The book has the texture of an episode in the PBS Civil War series, with the added dimension of analyzing Lee's motivations. Profusely illustrated with period photos and drawings, this title's appeal lies in its absorbing description and its compelling prose.
Kellie Flynn, St. Teresa High School, Decatur, IL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-12. A good companion to Marrin's Unconditional Surrender: U.S.Grant and the Civil War , this biography presents Lee as a gentleman and a soldier. Beginning with Lee's pivotal decision to refuse command of the U.S. Army, the book fills in the details of his childhood, education, marriage, and career, and then concentrates on the Civil War years. Quotations from Lee, his generals, and particularly his soldiers offer insight into the times. Source notes are appended. Period photographs and prints of people and battles illustrate the book, and maps show the location of significant places and battlefield positions. Although readers of both books will come away feeling they know Grant better than Lee, each volume contributes to a fuller understanding of the Civil War. Well researched and quite readable, this biography belongs in many library collections. Carolyn Phelan

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Library Binding: 192 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689318383
• ISBN-13: 978-0689318382
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,261,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lee, Robert E.

More About the Author

Albert Marrin is an award winning author of over 40 books for young adults and young readers and four books of scholarship. These writings were motivated by the fact that as a teacher, first in a junior high school in New York City for nine years and then as professor of history and chairman of the history department at Yeshiva University until he retired to become a full time writer, his paramount interest has always been to make history come alive and accessible for young people.

Winner of the 2008 National Endowment for Humanities Medal for his work, which was presented at the White House, was given "for opening young minds to the glorious pageant of history. His books have made the lessons of the past come alive with rich detail and energy for a new generation."

Dr. Marrin's numerous other awards include the Washington Post Childrens'Book Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the James Madison Award for Lifetime Achievement, several Horn Book awards by the Boston Globe, consistently appearing on the best book of the year lists of the American Library Association, frequent recognition by Book Lists, and the Western Heritage Award for best juvenile nonfiction book presented at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame among others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An engaging juvenille biography of Robert E. Lee, June 9, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Virginia's General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War (Library Binding)

As if often the case with any examination of the life and military career of Robert E. Lee, author Albert Marrin begins "Virginia's General" with the pivotal date of April 18, 1861, when Lee rejected taking battlefield command of the United States Army. Lee is the most revered general in American History, mainly because of the inherent nobility in fighting brilliantly for a lost cause, an effect that can be traced back to Homer's "Iliad" and Hector, breaker of horses. One of the inevitable questions in studying his life is what his reputation would have been in the American history books if he had accepted that offer instead. Would he have led the Federal forces to a quick victory thereby saving hundreds of thousands of lives? Would the abolition of slavery have gone "better" if the South had not been devastated by the war? However, as interesting as these questions are to pursue, they are just idle speculation and Marrin's task is to understand Robert E. Lee as both a person and a solider, setting him in his own time.

Marrin devotes his first chapter to Lee's life and military career through John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, where Lee led the marines who retook the arsenal. The rest of the book divides Lee's actions during the Civil War into distinct periods defined by various tasks and battles (e.g., Savior of Richmond deals with Lee taking command of the Confederate Army after General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded and Lee's Masterpiece is about the Battle of Chancellorsville). What is revealed is the portrait of a young officer who graduated West Point without receiving a single demerit and whose loyalty to his native Virginia convinced him to serve the Confederacy. But Marrin also describes the battles in such a way that young readers can appreciate Lee as a military strategist, both in terms of his many successes and his final defeats.

"Virginia's General: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War" is illustrated with historic photographs and paintings, as well as small maps of each of the major battles of the war. Marrin provides an engaging narrative that covers a lot of information and works in a lot of quotations to maintain the effect that this is an interesting story and not just a history book. I also appreciate that Marrin covers the entire Civil War, since what was happening in the West affected Lee's decisions as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. Consequently, this is not the first book that a young reader would turn to for an introduction to Lee, but it for a more in-depth examination of his Civil War career this is a solid choice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Book!, July 13, 2010

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L. R. Runnels - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Virginia's General (Paperback)

This is an excellent book on the Civil War! I don't usually care for books on war because battle details and war strategy is so boring to me but Albert Marin makes it all so interesting by not going into too much technical detail while interjecting lots of fascinating side facts about people and events throughout. I fell in love with General Lee. He was truly an honorable man and a military genius. I wish this were required reading in school as it is a balanced look at the heroes and horrors of the Civil War.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Virginia's General, Robert E. Lee and the Civil War, September 11, 2010

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Emuffinman - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Virginia's General (Paperback)

I could not put this book down. By far, the best book about Robert E. Lee and the Civil War.