Robert E. Lee and Me Spiral-Bound | 2021-01-26
Ty Seidule
★★★★☆+ from 1,001 to 10,000 ratings
Robert E. Lee and Me
Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service in the U.S. Army, every part of his life reinforced the Lost Cause myth: that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived, and that the Confederates were underdogs who lost the Civil War with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier general and Professor Emeritus of History at West Point, his view has radically changed. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, American history demands a reckoning.
In a unique blend of history and reflection, Seidule deconstructs the truth about the Confederacy--that its undisputed primary goal was the subjugation and enslavement of Black Americans--and directly challenges the idea of honoring those who labored to preserve that system and committed treason in their failed attempt to achieve it. Through the arc of Seidule's own life, as well as the culture that formed him, he seeks a path to understanding why the facts of the Civil War have remained buried beneath layers of myth and even outright lies--and how they embody a cultural gulf that separates millions of Americans to this day.
Part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the deeply-held legends and myths of the Confederacy--and provides a surprising interpretation of essential truths that our country still has a difficult time articulating and accepting.
"Seidule openly confronts his own indifference to racism, and this absorbing book will be of value to anyone interested in how history informs our present." --Library Journal (starred review)
"Ruminative and carefully researched....a valiant and well supported effort to bring essential facts to light. This heartfelt history has a worthy message." -Publishers Weekly
"A beautiful, often searing meditation on race, history, and the American narrative. Evocative and provocative, Robert E. Lee and Me is honest, wry, and utterly engaging." --Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The British are Coming
"In this fine book Ty Seidule scorches us with the truth and rivets us with his fierce sense of moral urgency. I can't think of a better book to enrich and invigorate our national discussion about race and memory and the troubled legacy of Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy." --Ron Chernow, bestselling author of Hamilton
"This book is a must read. With courage, grace, and humility, Seidule invites us to reexamine our past and challenges us by asking: 'as a nation, how can we know where are going if we don't know where we have been?'" --Mitch Landrieu, bestselling author of In The Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History
"In this profoundly moving memoir distinguished by moral courage and intellectual integrity, Ty Seidule chronicles his agonizing journey of discovery…Everyone interested in the Civil War and its continuing importance in American culture should read this unflinchingly honest book." --Professor James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom
"General Ty Seidule has written a book for our times, one every American should read...a tour de force." --Charles B. Dew, Ephraim Williams Professor of American History at Williams College
"Searingly passionate, mercilessly honest, Robert E. Lee and Me is one of the most deeply felt books you are likely to encounter...a must read for anyone who has ever thought about the meaning of duty, honor, country." --Randy Roberts, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of Blood Brothers
"As timely as it is profound...a searingly honest reflection on slavery, race, and the imperative of honesty in addressing America's past." --Professor Andrew Bacevich, bestselling author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism
"Soldier and historian Ty Seidule's memoir courageously counters the myths, half-truths, and outright falsehoods about the Confederacy that our institutions perpetuate to this day...essential and riveting reading." --John H. Morrow, Jr., Pritzker Prize-winning author and Franklin Professor of History, University of Georgia
"Ty Seidule has written an extraordinary tale of a great change, but unlike most, his is one of intellectual, cultural, and moral transformation....a powerful story of a southern man who confronted the myths of his youth and concluded that there is no room in the United States Army or American society for Lost Cause mythology." --Joseph Glatthaar, author of General Lee's Army and Stephenson Distinguished Professor of History at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill