A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR - From the award-winning
historian and best-selling author of Gettysburg comes the definitive
biography of Robert E. Lee. An intimate look at the Confederate general
in all his complexity--his hypocrisy and courage, his inner turmoil and
outward calm, his disloyalty and his honor.
"An important contribution to reconciling the myths with the facts."
--New York Times Book Review
Robert E. Lee is one of the most confounding figures in American
history. Lee betrayed his nation in order to defend his home state and
uphold the slave system he claimed to oppose. He was a traitor to the
country he swore to serve as an Army officer, and yet he was admired
even by his enemies for his composure and leadership. He considered
slavery immoral, but benefited from inherited slaves and fought to
defend the institution. And behind his genteel demeanor and
perfectionism lurked the insecurities of a man haunted by the legacy of
a father who stained the family name by declaring bankruptcy and who
disappeared when Robert was just six years old.
In Robert E. Lee, the award-winning historian Allen Guelzo has written
the definitive biography of the general, following him from his refined
upbringing in Virginia high society, to his long career in the U.S.
Army, his agonized decision to side with Virginia when it seceded from
the Union, and his leadership during the Civil War. Above all, Guelzo
captures Robert E. Lee in all his complexity--his hypocrisy and courage,
his outward calm and inner turmoil, his honor and his disloyalty.
