Thomas, a distinguished historian of the Civil War (The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience), has written a major analytical biography of Robert E. Lee. Synthesizing printed and manuscript sources, he presents Lee as neither the icon of Douglas Southall Freeman nor the flawed figure presented by Thomas Connolly. Lee emerges instead as a man of paradoxes, whose frustrations and tribulations were the basis for his heroism. Lee's work was his play, according to the author, and throughout his life he made the best of his lot. Believing that evil springs from selfishness, he found release in service to his family, his country and, not least, to the men he led. One of history's great captains and most beloved generals, he refused to take himself too seriously. This comic vision of life ultimately shaped an individual who was both more and less than his legend. Highly recommended. Photos not seen by PW. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gen. Robert Edward Lee was a leader who inspired great devotion among the men who followed him, and he continues to inspire great interest to this day. Thomas (The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865, 1979) presents a fresh look at the general. By examining Lee as a person, the biographer renders him intensely human. Lee is shown to be the son of an unstable father, a frustrated husband, and a devoted parent. He encountered many hardships but became great not "because of what he did ...but because of the way he lived." Given the prodigious number of Lee biographies available, this may be an optional purchase, but it is nonetheless a valuable addition to the studies of the general.‘Robert A. Curtis, Taylor Memorial P.L., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A comprehensive new biography that seeks to give a balanced portrait of the famed Confederate general. Thomas (History/Univ. of Georgia; The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience, not reviewed) undertakes a daunting task here, seeking to recover the real, living human from the mythology surrounding Lee since his death in 1870. In this effort he hews a middle ground between early 20th century hagiographies and revisionist contemporary interpretations. Born in 1807, Lee was the son of Revolutionary War hero Light Horse Harry Lee; but he never knew his father, who was sent to debtor's prison when the boy was only 2 years old and died when he was 11. Attending West Point, the younger Lee was second in his class and graduated without accruing a single demerit. After fighting valorously and decisively during the Mexican War, and suppressing abolitionist John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry, Lee became military advisor to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and later a field commander as the Civil War broke out. After the Confederate defeat, he was named president of Washington College (today Washington and Lee) and sought to transform it into a first-rate liberal arts school. As presented by Thomas, Lee was possessed of very human flaws. He considered himself a failure and was disappointed in his children. Although he viewed slavery as evil, he nonetheless owned slaves and believed in whites' innate superiority to blacks. His extreme inability to confront either superiors or subordinates often resulted in tragedy, as at the disatrous Battle of the Wilderness, which Lee knew he couldn't win but undertook because he didn't want to argue with Jefferson Davis. Lee considered restraint, discipline, and self-mastery the greatest virtues; Thomas candidly shows their negative aspects as well. Well written and based largely on primary documentation, a good effort at understanding a complex personality.

Author of many fine books on the Confederacy, Thomas (Univ. of Georgia) has written an outstanding biography of the South's greatest hero. Based on a complete review of all the primary and secondary sources, this excellent book will be indispensable to scholars and is a valuable addition to the literature on Lee. Using brevity, memorable phrasing, and incisive judgment, Thomas's account is narrative history at its very best with the author emphasizing the human side of Lee. Thomas argues that Lee's great responses throughout his life to the trials he faced on and off the battlefield, rather than his extraordinary accomplishments, are what made this man so great. Acknowledging Douglas Southall Freeman's classic Robert E. Lee, Biography (1943) which presented Lee as a noble military genius, and Thomas L. Connelly's revisionist The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in Society (CH, Nov'77) which questioned Lee's character and command, Thomas presents a "post-revisionist," fully alive Lee who in all his great humanity and ability is "both more and less than his legend." Highly recommended, all levels. E. M. Thomas; Gordon College

Thomas positions this life of the Marble Man as a corrective to critical appraisals such as Alan Nolan's Lee Reconsidered (1991). Both authors must contend with Douglas Southall Freeman's enduring R. E. Lee (1934), so what a revealing delight are Thomas' newly mined nuggets that humanize the image of the imperturbable, heroic, saintly, and suffering Lee. Thomas extracts them from Lee's pre-Civil War career, when he was mastering battlements (as an engineer) before mastering battles. Family life predominates, especially the legacy of Lee's famed father, "Light Horse" Harry Lee, Washington's cavalry chief, who landed in debtors prison. Thomas makes the case that that disgrace impelled the son on a lifelong, if subconscious, quest to repair by personal example the family name; hence Lee's legendary devotion to honor, duty, and courtesy. Perhaps his unspoken embarrassment was compounded by dependence on others for a living (his wealthy wife, the militaries, a college). The war narratives are professionally rendered (Thomas is many times an acclaimed Civil War author), but always in focus is the shy, conflict-avoiding Lee personality, excepting conflicts at the Seven Days and elsewhere, of course. Be Lee traitor or patriot, he is a compelling American figure. This fine work is an obligatory acquisition. --Gilbert Taylor Anchee Min