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    Lee: A Biography
    Lee: A Biography
    Lee: A Biography
    Audiobook33 hours

    Lee: A Biography

    Written by Clifford Dowdey

    Narrated by Malcolm Hillgartner

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    General Robert E. Lee is well known as a major figure in the Civil War. However, by removing Lee from the delimiting frame of the Civil War and placing him in the context of the Republic’s total history, Dowdey shows the “eternal relevance” of this tragic figure to the American heritage. With access to hundreds of personal letters, Dowdey brings fresh insights into Lee’s background and personal relationships and examines the factors which made Lee that rare specimen, a “complete person.” In tracing Lee’s reluctant involvement in the sectional conflict, Dowdey shows that he was essentially a peacemaker, very advanced in his disbelief in war as a resolution.

    Lee had never led troops in combat until suddenly given command of a demoralized, hodgepodge force under siege from McClellan in front of Richmond. In a detailed study of Lee’s growth in the mastery of the techniques of war, he shows his early mistakes, the nature of his seemingly intuitive powers, the limitations imposed by his personal character and physical decline, and the effect of this character on the men with whom he created a legendary army. It was after the fighting was over that Dowdey believes Lee made his most significant and neglected achievement. As a symbol of the defeated people, he rose above all hostilities and, in the wreckage of his own fortunes, advocated rebuilding a New South, for which he set the example with his progressive program in education. The essence of Lee’s tragedy was the futility of his efforts toward the harmonious restoration of the Republic with the dissensions of the past forgotten.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJul 11, 2017
    ISBN9781543606508

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    Reviews for Lee

    4.5/5

    48 ratings5 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Informative, well written, well read, but a bit too much of the old “lost cause “
    • 5/5
      This book is so well-written that after listening to it, I feel like I've personally known General Lee for years.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed everything about it! Learned a lot about Lee. Very good narration.
    • 3/5
      Clifford Dowdey’s 700+ page Lee is a truly hagiographic account of the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. Dowdey notes that “Lee towered above all others as the single most perfected product. Indeed, it was the suggested of a total perfection that has tended to dim Lee with a certain remoteness.” It was clear from the forward that this was not going to be a critical view of the general.Dowdey was not a trained historian, and was a writer of novels of the South. At his death, he was eulogized as the “Last Confederate,” and it isn’t hard to see why. In the early part of the book, slaves are usually not referred to as slaves – instead he uses “servant” or “attendant.” In the later part of the book he consistently downplays the role of the Ku Klux Klan in Reconstruction, and only views Reconstruction in a negative light. He seems incapable of understanding why the North simply didn’t restore the South to the way it was before the war.The chapters on Reconstruction make clear that Dowdey was still of an Old South mindset. When writing about Reconstruction he always places “equality” in quotation marks. The abolitionists are always referred to as evil, always ready to use the newly freed blacks for their own political purposes. Dowdey’s writing is strongest during the war itself, his narrative flows from battle to battle. But again, when it comes to making judgement on the battles themselves, Lee is never to blame. At times Dowdey reaches for any excuse, including referring to the Battle of North Anna as a significant check to Grant, equal to Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg.There are balanced accounts of the life of General Lee, which at least attempt to critically analyze his actions. Dowdey’s is not one of these. I would suggest Emory Thomas’ Robert E. Lee.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my all time favorite biographies. Dowdey takes a very balanced approach of presenting Robert E Lee as a man, a man definitely born for the times in which he lived.While I completely condemn that practice of slavery, I salute such men as Robert E Lee, who has been much maligned by the 'winners' of history. Young men of our day would learn much from the study of Mr. Lee.