Lee Considered

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Lawyer and historian Nolan considers how the historical Lee differed from the legends about him. (Sept.)

Library Journal

Marching in the tracks of such historians as Bruce Catton, Thomas Connelly, and T. Harry Williams, Nolan tries to unhorse the mythic Lee. In pointing out the contradictions between the legend and the man, Nolan shows that Lee the slaveholder was not antislavery, that the reluctant secessionist endorsed Southern independence, that the general lost the war by his repeated offensive thrusts and provincial vision--and more. Lawyer Nolan's brief challenges all the commonplaces by insisting that we look at the record rather than the legend in viewing the man, and through him, the war itself. Nolan's debunking is less original than he claims, and his own reading of Lee is somewhat idiosyncratic. But he makes a forceful case for rethinking Lee and all the myths his memory has draped over the Lost Cause. A provocative book, highly recommended for university and major public libraries.-- Randall Miller, St. Jo seph's Univ., Philadelphia

Booknews

In this unorthodox consideration of Lee's career, Nolan explodes many longstanding assumptions about Lee and the war, viewing Lee as a strategically limited general and as a Southerner who did not differ greatly in his social and political views from others of his class and region. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

From the Publisher

"Nolan doesn't question Lee's undeniable greatness. [He] subjects the sources to brutal cross examinations. . . . His purpose is to place Lee within his proper historical context. . . . Nolan asks the right questions about Lee, especially his generalship."
— Peter S. Carmichael, Civil War Times

Nolan dethrones the myth of 'the Marble Man' with meticulous research.

New Republic

[Future authors] will have to face up to Nolan's material and we will all be the better for it.

Washington Post

His argument is a persuasive one, artfully fashioned to stimulate the critical assessment he seeks.

New York Times Book Review

Lee Considered should be required reading for anyone who would understand the Confederacy's most famous soldier.

Gary W. Gallagher

No student of the Civil War can afford to ignore the challenging and controversial conclusions of this study.

James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom: The Era of the Civil War