Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His

Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters

For the 200th anniversary of Robert E. Leeâ€™s birth, a new portrait drawing on previously unpublished correspondence

Robert E. Leeâ€™s war correspondence is well known, and here and there personal letters have found their way into print, but the great majority of his most intimate messages have never been made public. These letters reveal a far more complex and contradictory man than the one who comes most readily to the imagination, for it is with his family and his friends that Lee is at his most candid, most engaging, and most vulnerable. Over the past several years historian Elizabeth Brown Pryor has uncovered a rich trove of unpublished Lee materials that had been held in both private and public collections.
Her new book, a unique blend of analysis, narrative, and historiography, presents dozens of these letters in their entirety, most by Lee but a few by family members. Each letter becomes a departure point for an essay that shows what the letter uniquely reveals about Leeâ€™s time or character. The material covers all aspects of Leeâ€™s lifeâ€”his early years, West Point, his work as an engineer, his relationships with his children and his slaves, his decision to join the South, his thoughts on military strategy, and his disappointments after defeat in the Civil War. The result is perhaps the most intimate picture to date of Lee, one that deftly analyzes the meaning of his actions within the context of his personality, his relationships, and the social tenor of his times.
Country USA
Brand PENGUIN USA
Manufacturer Viking Adult
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2007-05-03
EANs 9780670038299

Country	USA
Brand	PENGUIN USA
Manufacturer	Viking Adult
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2007-05-03
EANs	9780670038299

Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters

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