1 comments about Incident at San Augustine Springs (Frontier Forts and People).

1. Back in the late '60s, I did a master's degree in U.S. history and my research dealt with several aspects of the Texas invasion of New Mexico under Col. John Baylor and the humiliation of federal troops at Mesilla in the summer of 1861. Naturally, I've been interested ever since in anything published on the subject of the Civil War in the southwest, so I hunted down this self-published volume, even though I finally had to go through Interlibrary Loan to get it. I'm not sure I should have bothered. Maj. Lynde was an incompetent who abandoned his post under threat from a much smaller Texan force, and who then allowed his troops to string themselves out during their flight up into the Organ Mountains -- with whiskey in their canteens instead of water, though Wadsworth doesn't seem to know about that, . . and I helped dig up the empty bottles at the fort one summer. This idiotic behavior allowed Baylor to roll them up as he caught up with the straggling column with only one shot being fired. Wadsworth seems to think most of this was the fault of Lynde's superiors and subordinates, but there's plenty of blame to go around. In any case, one need only imagine the result if the two commanders had been switched -- if Baylor had been in command at Fort Fillmore. Is there any doubt the defenders of the fort would have sent their attackers packing? Or that the federal assault on the town of Mesilla would have been successful, had Baylor been the one leading it instead of resisting it, instead of the disaster it actually was for the Union troops? But interpretations aside, my biggest gripe about this exercise in special pleading is that Wadsworth seems never to have heard of the two standard books and more than a dozen journal articles on the subject written by Martin Hardwick Hall. Admittedly, the late Dr. Hall was my thesis advisor (and I was his R.A. for awhile), but his work is still important in any discussion of Baylor, Mesilla, or the Confederate Territory of Arizona.

2 comments about Darkness Visible: Memoir of a World War II Combat Photographer.

1. Charles Sumners (with the help of Ann Sumners) wrote with his memory book "Darkness Visible" a book which was overdue for a long time: Who didn't wonder under which dangers and conditions the often single pictures have arisen when looking at the photos in the many publications to the World War II? For me, in the meantime, it has become an important means of work at my researches as a German historian, publicists and documentary movie director, who actively has a good look at this time! Charles Sumners manages important attempts to think with his memories and he activates to further intensive researches! This applies to me particularly with reference to the photo which can be found on the title page of the book - the photo which made Charles on April 4th, 1945 in the village of Oberdorla near the city of Mühlhausen, Germany! With this photo Charles Sumners has been placed in the elite of the combat photographers in the WWII! "Darkenss Visible" is also a very intimate and also gripping report of the insides of his 166th Photo Signal Company, and of friendships which arose in the face of the daily dangers and endangerings and lasted up to the death of the ones involved.

   I have read hundreds of American and German books at my researches about the WWII - "Darkness Visible" is part of my "Top Ten" if I carry out a qualitative evaluation! I wish that this book will find a large and broad readership in the USA and in all the world; and I wish as well that a translated edition is published of "Darkness Visible" in Germany soon, too! What Charles Sumners writes makes thoughtful... The book has seemed very late - but still not too late!




2. Darkness Visible has personal interest for me, because my father served with Mr. Sumners. Mr. Meyers spent time at our home when I was young and came to my dad's memorial service in 1990, and left me with the promise of a wake attended by the "army buddies". I enjoyed reading about events from another perspective and the kind words of Mr. Sumners about my father, Ralph Butterfield.

3 comments about Through Blood & Fire: Selected Civil War Papers of Major General Joshua Chamberlain.

1. I am a great fan of Chamberlain, but found this book hard to digest. It is a compilation of his civil war letters strung together with a little back- ground information (that is mostly confusing, occasionally helpful). Most of the letters are quite boring and tactical in nature (If you find that interesting---sorry---you'll love it!) There are a few really good ones, however that can stand on their own and speak to the true character of the man. I cried twice while reading these, but at other times found myself dreading picking up the book. I'm glad I finished it---and it was worthwhile reading. Trulock is much better!



2. Mark Nesbitt does a wonderful job of organizing the personal letters of Joshua Chamberlain into an informative and enjoyable read. Through the letters, Chamberlain's motives to join the army, his accounts of battles and day-to-day affairs of a soldier's life, and his personal insights bring a new perspective on a man usually know only for his role at Gettysburg. This book allows the reader to get to know many of Chamberlain's other accomplishments in life: his family, his career, and his achievements throughout the war.



3. This book depicts a true American soldier. Joshua Chamberlain's letters and the narrative given by Mark Nesbitt give great insight into JLC's political, personal and military thought. It is a well organized work.

2 comments about MARSHALL NEY: The Bravest of the Brave.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this well written and historically accurate book. Michel Ney is a much maligned and often misunderstood historical figure. This book does much to clarify both his personal as well as his military life in verbage all can understand. He was trully the soldier's soldier and the "Bravest of the Brave".



2. Just curious for those who have read this book...Does it go into the possibility that his execution was faked and he escaped to America. In the small town of Cleveland, NC at Third Creek Presbyterian Church there is a tomb that many claim to be the burial site of Marshal Michel Ney...The Bravest of the Brave.

5 comments about War of Numbers: An Intelligence Memoir.

1. Adams' book is not so much a book about Vietnam as a chronical of what happens when intelligence units and agencies report what the commanders WANT to hear. The CIA and J2 of MACV in Adams' book become pawns in the politics of Vietnam. They ignored facts and basic tenents of intelligence reporting. The agencies feared reaction to the facts and its possible effect on public sentiment to US involvement. Because of that they purposely, according to Adams, reported and knowingly maintained false information.

   Even more disturbing are Adams' insights into the CIA of the middle and late Sixties. Though deeply entrenched in war in Vietnam, they seemed to take an overall cavalier approach to the mission. Adams notes after Tet-1968 there were "considerably less than 6" CIA agent handlers in Vietnam who spoke vietnamese. These same case officers received a grand total of 2 hours orientation on Vietnam and their enemy prior to assignment.

   This book is a MUST read for intelligence personnel, policy makers and anyone who wants to learn how, the hard way, not to run an intelligence organization.




2. War of Numbers is an essential book for intelligence analysts as well as students of the Vietnam War. Adams provides key insight to strategic policy failure. In order to fully appreciate Adam's contribution to the intelligence history of Vietnam, it is important to understand that wars are fought by nations in the pursuit of interests and that for Americans, the decision to go to war should address seven considerations: Problem Identification, Interests Assessment, Objective Identification (including End State Assessment), Strategic Self Appraisal, National Power Assessments of The Enemy, Strategy Development, and the Identification of Gaps between Policy and Means.
   Adam's book addresses errors in the National Power Assessment phase which had a negative cascading effect in subsequent decision making. Flawed enemy strength calculations contributed to flawed strategy development which contributed to a gap between policy and means. When Adams identified the flaw, the Johnson Administration was too heavily committed to a war of attrition to tolerate public exposure of the gaps between policy and means. Strategically, telling the truth about the numbers of enemy forces would have required larger commitments of U.S. forces increasing the strain on public support for the war. The strength of Johnson's political will and McNamara's quantitative analysis approach to war deeply affected the way the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, counted the enemy (called, Order of Battle).
   MACV kept three sets of books; The first set of OB was the official version sent to Washington. The second set belonged to the OB Analysts themselves, and the third set was a blend of the first two. The first set was an undercount to keep official Washington placated; the second set was the honest count but did not go anywhere, and the third set went to Westmoreland who kept it close hold.
   Adams contribution to the intelligence discipline is his description of how he found the flaw in OB accounting and the political correctness that resisted him within the intelligence community. The key to his breakthrough was to have actually gone to Vietnam, worked the Order of Battle issues on the ground, understand the enemy from "the enemy's" perspective and then double check how U.S. reporting of enemy strength matched that of how the enemy was reporting his own strength. This is when Adams discovered that MACV was undercounting troop strength. He performed a validity and reliability check on MACV and found their procedures and results wanting. The technique he used is described in detail and serves as a lesson learned for today's OB analysts.
   The second lesson is how Adams' persistence caused a rift between the CIA and MACV over the integrity of the OB counting. The CIA is evenhandedly portrayed in the book. Individual analysts who looked at the numbers invariably sided with Adams; those in responsive political positions and vulnerable to the political influence of the Johnson-McNamara Administration behave in the subtle manner normally associated with behind the scene politics. Adams illustrates how assessments were watered down, reports delayed, egos clashed in the briefing rooms, and all of the suppressive efforts were brought to bear to keep him muffled and how he countered them. Basically, his operating principle was that the truth should be allowed to surface and he describes how he created those opportunities; back channel copies of reports; boot leg copies of reports, analyst to analyst contacts (CIA to DIA, for example), as well as maintaining contact with the honest brokers at MACV.
   This is an important book for students of Intelligence Analysis. It serves as a guide on how to double check the validity and reliability of Order of Battle data; it gives insight to how politics heavily filtered ground truth under the Johnson Administration, and it lets the world see that the CIA wasn't evil incarnate. Like every other agency in Washington, it simply surrendered to political pressure from the White House.



3. The world of real intelligence gathering and analyzation is still somewhat of a mystery to the general public. Thousands of movies and books have been made and written concerning this eminently interesting field, but they are often grandising or unrealistic. War of Numbers presents the Cold War CIA as it was and the intelligence community as it is. While it is much less glamorous than the popular culture would have us believe, it has its own intricacies that far outweigh anything Hollywood could muster in terms of interest. Sam Adams lived and breathed analysis as a young CIA officer fresh out of Harvard and thrown into the high intensity world of the cold war spy battle. He was your classic early 60's spook, a man of high prestige and old money with a dynamite education. Unleashed on communist insurrections around the world, Adams and men like him were to bring an enlightened face to a fierce struggle in the third world. Adams took to the task well, providing balanced opinions and using old fashioned organizational skills to detail various liberation groups around the world. However, this good work and the sterling career it gave rise to quickly ran into the mass of national miscalculation known as the Vietnam War.
   
   Adams started out as a low level analyst, searching through a morass of long forgotten reports concerning the minutiae of the revolt in the Congo. However, his work gained attention at the highest level because of its specificity and detail. One of the best parts of this book is Adam's amazing specificity concerning the very detailed processes through which raw intelligence data would go through. Although CIA specialists were often as clueless on low level situations as their civilian bosses, they managed, through hours and hours in the archives, to piece together some sort of cogent observation. If you want to know the nuts and bolts behind intelligence, this is an amazing eye opener. Adams slowly climbs the ladder of the agency, until he latches on a "hot" area of national security study, the Viet Cong insurgency in Vietnam. To the shock of Adams, the information on the VC was woefully inadequate, especially in comparison to the massive role the group would have on American policy for the next decade. Adams follows his own curiosity, a valuable freedom allowed to him by a relatively effective intelligence agency. This freedom would slip away with the war years, as politics and military prognostication would end any hope Adams and people like him had of accurate conflict understanding.
   
   Adams travels to Vietnam, and rapidly begins to realize the extent of the rebellion. He began to understand that the VC was a multi-tiered national force that far exceeded the number estimates set down by the US military and the government of South Vietnam. Much of the book is the battle Adams fights over the force estimates that the US government, estimates that he finds to be woefully inadequate. He goes over, in painful detail, the lengths that the military command, under the direct supervision of General Westmoreland's intelligence section, would go to in order to "fit" the VC estimates into political convenient numbers. To do this, the command would just edit out vast strata of VC units, such as support troops and militia formations. This was maddening to Adams and other in the CIA, who fought their hearts out to get past the official red tape. This struggle eventually cost many of them their careers, as memos got squashed and into the hands of the wrong people. It was political manipulation of intelligence in its most grotesque form, and Adams details it in all its painful reality.
   
   War on Numbers is a very ground level account of how the American public along with large swaths of the government was misled during the Vietnam War. It is so valuable because it points out the both the successes and failures of the CIA at the time, a duality often ignored in the oppressively negative accounts we are usually treated to. It is a shame that Mr. Adams died, as parts of his unfinished work would have given a much better overall view of the situation. The only failing of the book is its incessant attention to detail, which, unless one is a student of some interest in the subject fails to really captivate. Also, I wanted to learn more about Adam's himself, it's almost like the book is an autobiography without him really being in it. You can tell the book is incomplete, but what it does deliver it does so very well. A must read for anyone interested in intelligence and its place in the Vietnam conflict.



4. This book is one of the most illuminating "lessons learned" biographical studies that is absolutely essential in the current conflict we face in Iraq and the war on terrorism.



5. Can you imagine how difficult it is for an Intelligence Professional to maintain his or her integrity? At every juncture, the suits, the E-Ring Horse-Holders, do their best to discredit your advice. No matter that you and your associates down at the worker-bee level are correct and have provided irrefutable proof of your analysis.
   
   No, the suits will always fight to bring you down. Remember: They are political and you are not.
   
   When the Analyst loses Integrity and Goes Political, then the process of honest intelligence production ceases. The War of Numbers shows so many who took the dishonest road.
   
   This book precisely demonstrates how, even while being pummeled by the suits, Mr Adams remains true to the Intelligence Analysis Profession.
   
   RIP Sam, we miss you and need you.

2 comments about William Washington : Cavalryman of the Revolution.

1. The 'other' Washington finally gets his day
   Reviewed by William W. Starr in
   The State (South Carolina's larged newspaper; 8/10/2001, page E24)

   Mr. Starr's review is quoted below:

   "WILLIAM WASHINGTON: Cavalryman of the Revolution By Stephen E. Haller Heritage Books, 237 pages, $28 (paperback) Here's a new biography of the "other" Washington in the American Revolution, the one named William, second cousin to George. George may have gotten most of the attention (--) this is apparently the first book-length biography of William (--) but the latter made some mighty strong contributions to South Carolina during the war, even though he wasn't a native. William Washington was born in Virginia, and we don't know much about what shaped his life until the Revolution. Once the war started, however, he proved to be a formidable cavalry officer, bold and courageous, sometimes impetuous, a fighter who won much more than he lost. He spent much of the Revolutionary War years in the Palmetto State, battling Cornwallis and Lord Rawdon and especially the arrogant but gifted British cavalry officer Banastre Tarleton. In fact, the two of them flailed away at each other frequently in skirmishes and full-fledged battles, at times both nearly losing their lives and sufferingcapture. Washington saw plenty of action at major battles in the state including Cowpens, Hobkirk Hill and Eutaw Springs. Gen. Nathanael Greene, commanding American armies in the South, called the dependable Washington his "arm" in the bloody warfare. His recklessness caught up with him at Eutaw Springs in 1781 when he was wounded and captured by the British. He spent the last part of the war as a prisoner in Charleston, winning his freedom when the British evacuated the city. In the postwar period, he married and settled in his adopted state, serving in the General Assembly for 17 years, declining offers to run for governor because he preferred the congenial life of a planter and, he insisted, because he was not a native (--) a modesty shared by none of today's politicians. This biography is a lively, well-researched book that should delight historical-minded readers. The author is the manager of archives and records for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia."

   NOTE: rating "stars" were assigned by the author (not original reviewer, Mr. Starr) in order to comply with "form field" entry requirement by amazon in order to post a review.




2. William Washington: Cavalryman Of The Revolution is the biography of Lieutenant Colonel William Washington who was also a cousin of George Washington. William belonged to a small, loyal cadre of key field officers who served with distinction in the Continental Army throughout the entire war. William first distinguished himself as an infantry officer at Trenton in 1776, and then was transferred to the Continental Light Dragoons and served in the Middle states from 1777 to 1779. He is perhaps best remembered as a cavalry commander in the South from 1780 to 1771, where he fought in all of the major battles of General Nathaniel Greene's campaign to drive the British from the Carolinas. William was a gallant battlefield commander who personally led his men and was so valuable to the Carolina campaign that General Green referred to William Washington as his "arm". Strongly recommended reading for students of American military history in general, and the American revolution in particular, William Washington: Cavalryman Of The Revolution is enhanced with a chronology of William's life (including his romance with Jane Elliot and his political career after the war), a comprehensive bibliography, illustrations and maps, and a full name index.

2 comments about Sir Francis Drake.

1. The author has a healthy respect for Drake without becoming too enamored. The author points out at near the end of the book that Drake was the right man at the right time. On Drake's later expeditions (that were failures) the Spanish had fortified their holdings in the new world to a point that made it more difficult for privateers. This, however, does not detract from Drake's earlier success which would not have been accomplished by men of lesser genius.



2. I thought this was a fairly easy read, chocked full of well reasearched facts. However when hard documentation was not available, well argued reasoning is injected to make the intended point. I've read many treatments on Drake and find this to be the most definative.
   While there are many missing pieces to Drakes life, the author really gives a good picture of the man and his times without putting him on a pedestal or dragging him through the mud as many authors try. In other words this book is not based on just trying to get another "ANGLE" to Drakes story.
   I think you be pleased you read it.

No comments about Los Grandes: Jose Maria Morelos (Los Grandes Mexicanos).

5 comments about A. P. Hill: Lee's Forgotten General.

1. Robertson's work is a readable,even-handed treatment of this Confederate general who is overshadowed by his fellow Virginians, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. I give Robertson high marks for not trying to inflate Hill's abilities while at the same time giving Hill deserved credit for his hard-nosed leadership of the Light Division. After Stonewall Jackson is felled at Chancellorsville, Lee promoted hill to Corps commander. What Henderson shows is that Hill possesed the verve and warfighting skills to be an outstanding division commander, but he did not possess the strategic vision required of a corps commander. While Hill and Lee had deep respect for one another, Hill clashed with both Longstreet and Jackson. Jackson arrested Hill for not following his orders during the Second Manassas Campaign. The sting of that arrest was an insult that would never heal.Robertson probes these clashes objectively and honestly. I reached the conclusion that the imperious Jackson and the proud Hill would never have gotten along in any age, in any setting. It certainly was not a case of right and wrong. Roberston explains that Hill's poor health is the likely result of a case of gonorrhea which he contracted during his West Point years. Roberston provides interesting details of the competition between George McClellan and Hill for the hand of Ellen Marcy. The picture that emerges of "Little Hill" is a courageous,noble warrior who was magnanimous to friend and foe alike. Hill does not rank as one of the top generals to come out of the Civil War, but he is clearly in the same class as Forrest or Hancock as a tenacious fighter.Hill's death only days before Appamatox has become a metaphor for the southern cause.Finally, one cannot avoid the poignance that the name of Hill was on the dying lips of both Jackson and Lee. A powerful testament indeed to a spirited fighter.



2. Hassler's book is an interesting read of one the Civil War's overlooked generals.

   Hassler covers many areas of Hill's life, including: Hill's early years, West Point education, and contribution in several Civil War battles (specifically: Williamsburg, Seven Days' Campaign, Cedar Mountain, 2nd Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, and Petersburg).

   Particularly interesting were the descriptions of his tense relationships with superior officers (Jackson and Longstreet), his strong relationships with Lee and subordinate officers, and how he was well-loved by his soldiers.

   While the book flowed well and the battle descriptions interesting, I would have liked to have seen more well-drawn maps so I could better understand troop movements. The lack of such maps is the only reason I give the book 4 stars.

   Despite this, I highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to know more about one of the Confederacy's overlooked generals. I also highly recommend James Robertson's new and more detailed book on A.P. Hill (I would rate his book better).




3. This is a solid biography of General A.P. Hill. The prose flows well and is easily followed. Descriptions of terrain, deployments, and the action of battle are clear and concise. The author makes vivid use of source material to delve into the motives of the figures involved, most notably in recounting the conflict between Hill and Jackson, and to show what Hill's contemporaries had to say about his military abilities as well as his strengths and weaknesses as a human being.
   However, the author does presume that the reader has considerable knowledge of the was as a whole. He does not spend much time explaining the significance of many of the battles, places, and people he references, instead focusing more directly on General Hill's involvement. This is not a problem, but the more casual reader might be well served to have some quick reference material on hand to help them get the most out of this excellent biography.



4. This is a solid biography of General A.P. Hill. The prose flows well and is easily followed. Descriptions of terrain, deployments, and the action of battle are clear and concise. The author makes vivid use of source material to delve into the motives of the figures involved, most notably in recounting the conflict between Hill and Jackson, and to show what Hill's contemporaries had to say about his military abilities as well as his strengths and weaknesses as a human being.
   However, the author does presume that the reader has considerable knowledge of the was as a whole. He does not spend much time explaining the significance of many of the battles, places, and people he references, instead focusing more directly on General Hill's involvement. This is not a problem, but the more casual reader might be well served to have some quick reference material on hand to help them get the most out of this excellent biography.



5. Ambrose Powell Hill (A. P. for short) was one of the finest division commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia. His rise to corps command may illustrate the "Peter Principle," in which people rise to positions for which they are incompetent.
   
   This book looks at his early life, including the triangular relationship among George McClellan, Hill, and Ellen (Nelly) Marcy. McClellan won Nelly's hand. Later, some Union troops wondered of Hill would have been less aggressive had he won Nelly's affections!
   
   The story in this book begins with his youth and his early career in the army. When war broke out, he joined the Confederate army. The author, William Hassler, describes Hill's leadership qualities thus (Page 3): "A natural leader, Hill possessed that 'commanding resolution' which 'inspired by his voice, his example, and his personal appearance.'"
   
   He showed a great ability with division sized command, leading what became known as "The Light Division," an oversized command that fought hard under him. His prickly nature came out with two corps commanders--James Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson. Both feuded with him. In fact, he was removed from Longstreet's command to Jackson's to get around the disagreement with Longstreet--only to see a second feud brew with Jackson!
   
   His high water marks came at Second Manassas and Antietam ("and then Hill came up"). At the latter, his last minute arrival at the battlefield saved the day for Lee's forces. After Jackson's death at Chancellorsville, Lee reorganized the army and gave Hill command of a corps. His dicey health and perhaps his skill level were not up to the challenge., He performed poorly at Gettysburg and blundered badly at Bristoe Station. At the North Anna, he had another bad day. On the other hand, at Reams' Station, outside Petersburg, he thoroughly whipped Winfield Scott Hancock's by now degraded Second Corps.
   
   This is a fine biography of Hill's life. I would have desired a bit more detail on the battles and some maps would have been be appreciated. Nonetheless, this is a good work.

5 comments about Robert E. Lee: A Life (Penguin Lives Biographies).

1. I like the Penquin series of short biographies but this one was too much of a strange psychohistory. As other reviewers have pointed out, author Roy Blount seems to have a need to go into details 9at fairly great legnth) such as Lee's small feet and that he liked to play games with his children where they tickled his feet. First of all, I knew this because as a Civil way buff, I have read a lot about Lee so I come across such material. However, someone who knows less about Lee who is reading a very short biography would want to know more substance and less psycho nonsense in those few pages.
   
   There is not a lot of military history but, then again, this is a short book. Still, military history is basic to an initial understanding of Lee, therefore, perhaps Blount should have been more carefully in allocating scarce page space in this short book. In general, I have enjoyed reading short biographies of historical figures I am familiar with. I have read several biographies of Grant, for example, and I found two short biographies to be worthwhile in that in the few pages, they added insights. I suppose this book is OK for someone who knows nothing about Lee but it would be better to include more of the military and political facts. However, I found that it didn't really add much to my personal understanding of Lee.



2. In the pantheon of American history, few figures are as elusive and unknowable as Robert E. Lee, the commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia and the principal Confederate military leader in the Civil War. To try and encapsulate his life into one small, concise little book is pretty much impossible, but Roy Blount Jr. tries his best. And for that, he is to be applauded.
   
   Over the course of less than 200 pages, Blount examines Lee's life from his troubled past (Light-Horse Harry Lee, his Revolutionary War hero of a father, abandons the family and leaves his mother to raise their children), to his early military career (including brave missions for Winfield Scott during the Mexican-American War), up through his Civil War generalship and subsequent retirement to a small college to live out his last years. And Blount does it with the charm and wit that make him one of America's (and the South's) most treasured writers.
   
   Robert E. Lee, more a marble giant than a man in most other biographers' attempts, is fleshed out by Blount as a stoic, almost Calvinist man with some unusual attributes that make him more attractive than before. Blount does not try to apologize for Lee's decision to side with his state over the Federal Government, he also tries to illuminate Lee's human side with interactions with his children and various ladies other than his wife over the course of his life. The Robert E. Lee that emerges is a man who had a hard life, with little hope for more than a passing whiff of happiness, who saw his duty to his state and his class overreaching that of the nation he served so gallantly before. And he paid the price for that in the end.
   
   Blount is at his best when describing Lee's human side (such as his flirtations with other women, his relationships with his children, his care of pupils while in charge of West Point), and also in showing that Lee's military record during the Civil War was less than perfect. Indeed, the book focuses on what Blount calls Lee's "instinctive" generalship and how his inability to communicate with his subordinates cost him victory at Gettysburg. Lee's war is not a success in the end, but his image as a fatherly leader of his men helps to cement the postwar elevation to Godlike status among the defeated Southerners who clung to the ideals of the Confederacy.
   
   Robert E. Lee is too complex a figure to be summed up in the space of 200 pages, but what Blount does is provide a quick survey of his life and infuse it with enough detail to make for a great brief appreciation. In appendices to the main book, Blount also discusses Lee's humor (his fondness for a certain, almost obscene phrase a highlight) and his attitudes to slavery (Lee was sadly a product of his times, no matter how "kind" he may have been to his own slaves). Blount, a southerner himself, takes pains to show Lee in real terms, not as the demigod he has been promoted to in the wake of postwar nostalgia. Robert E. Lee was not an easy man to know, and Blount makes no attempt to act as if his is the "definitive" study. But through clever and interesting sidetracks into Lee's personality, Blount comes as close as anyone yet to getting a handle on the man behind the curtain, the real Robert E. Lee and not the myth.
   
   Roy Blount Jr., through the auspices of Penguin's Brief Lives series, gives us a portrait of Robert E. Lee than transcends the myth and looks at the facts behind the myth. The result is a man that emerges as a troubled and complicated leader of men whose failings had as much to do with his legend as his successes. Blount makes Lee human, something that other more esteemed historians seem to miss. For that, he should be commended. The Marble Giant comes alive, however briefly, and fans and detractors alike can find something to treasure in Roy Blount's honest appraisal of his life and times.



3. I came away from this biography of Robert E. Lee feeling that the author didn't like his subject very much. It was almost like he wanted to prove that General Lee was just another man with more than his share of faults. He kept trying to pick Lee's personality apart and gave meaning to every gesture and casual comment that Lee had ever made. I felt that the historic facts in this book seemed accurate as far as I could remember from other things that I had read, but I also felt that there was not enough information given to substantiate some of the negative comments. He painted Lee as somewhat of a flirt, ignoring his wife, and being a cold and indifferent father to his children.
   
   If you want to read about General Lee, there are better biographies available.
   
   



4. This book fails Gen. Robert E. Lee.
   
   It's noble in intent and confused in reality; like the Confederate army, half of which deserted, it greatly misses its full potential; like Lee's ability to overawe Northern generals, the topic seems to have overawed Blount; and like the Confederacy itself, it's a sadly flawed effort in defence of a doomed cause. In other words, it's a fitting portrayal of the Slave-ocracy itself, all smoke and mirrors and little substance. People who live off the labour of others are rarely noble, decent, competent or useful; that is why the Confederacy failed, not due to the shortcomings of General Lee or any of his soldiers.
   
   Again and again, Blount approaches fatal flaws in Lee's character and comes away uninspired; he writes "Lee was a great defensive general but on offense he got away with murder." It's an astute assessment. But he doesn't suggest the outcome had Lee fought a solely defensive war instead of wasting his best troops in futile attacks.
   
   Even his assessment of Lee as a "great defensive general" can be questioned. At the start of his long retreat to Appomattox Courthouse, Lee had 64,000 troops. He inflicted 63,000 casualties on Union forces; but, at Appomattox, his army was less than 10,000. Lee lost 53,000 men, or 83 percent of his army. Had the Germans lost the same proportion in Normandy in 1944, World War II would have ended by Thanksgiving.
   
   Blount touches major issues again and again, then retreats without a single thought. He spends more time psychobabbling about Lee's shoe size, a 4 1/2 C, than discussing Gettysburg. Surely, in a 206-page book about one of the great flawed figures of American history, there is more intellectual depth than to report, "We have no evidence that Lee and his wife, Mary, ever massaged each other's feet."
   
   "No one has ascribed any psychological significance to this socks fixation," Blount writes later about Lee's complaint that his wife sent only 64 pairs of socks, instead of 67 pairs. Although his soldiers often subsisted on mule meat and green corn, Blount can't find any psychobabble to explain Lee's order to have a soldier at Antietam shot for carrying a "stolen" pig. But he explains in great detail Lee's murder of a Canadian "snake" early in his career.
   
   When it comes to pure babble, Blount says Lee's joining the Confederacy "is one of the most famous American decisions." So, he compares it to the purely fictional decision by Huck Finn to help Jim, a runaway slave, to escape. Such insight is surely equivalent to saying Roosevelt's action after Pearl Harbour was inspired by Superman's decision to save Gotham. This is history? Or is it Blount's sense of humour, testing the acumen of readers hoping for anything more serious.
   
   Having wrapped up Lee's life in 163 pages, perhaps the strangest element is three Appendix afterthoughts that fill up the otherwise blank space from page 165 to the end. Maybe those pages should have been left blank for readers to fill in their own notes, observations and ideas. Or he could have psychobabbled about 'General Lee', the Dukes of Hazard car.
   
   Regardless of anyone's opinion of him, Lee deserves better.



5. Obviously, to get a REALLY good idea of who someone was, one must read more than one biography, but Roy Blount, Jr.'s "Robert E. Lee: A Life" is a pretty good start for anyone who has slight trouble wading through the heavy stuff. It keeps a lighthearted air while still managing to be extremely informative. I learned some little things about Lee, which I hadn't heard anywhere else before, and it was presented in such an enjoyable fashion. I already have two people asking to borrow this book, and I'm confident that they will come out of it with no complaints, just as I have. Enjoy. There's no way you can regret this purchase.