Rating: 
Summary: Blount sure is a witty guy!!
Review: A nice little overview of Lee's life is marred by Blount's incessant, cynical wit. The tone of the book is basically "Hey everybody, check out this guy Lee - what a square he is!! And these people in the 19th century - weren't they silly?!?"If that kind of history appeals to you, then go for it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Real Lee
Review: Blount helps us understand the real Lee for a change, not the "marble man" admired and revered by simple Civil War buffs. Those looking for yet another breathless account of the same old stories will be intellectually overmatched by the insightful, sensitive and illuminating portrait Blount presents. A real contribution to understanding Lee, the Civil War, and the mindset which led the nation to and through that disaster.
Rating:
Summary: Blount sure is a witty guy!!
Review: I am not familiar with the author, Roy Blount, from his previous writings, but I believe that he showed himself quite an able biographer with this latest edition of the Penguin Lives series. In some ways, his assignment was the most difficult of characters to study. Robert E. Lee is one of the more enigmatic figures in American history, but it is hard to say why he is not just a footnote instead of a figure of reverence, to some folks. Unlike, say Lincoln or Jefferson, he wrote very little beyond chatty personal letters and so we cannot study his writings and speeches to better understand his character and development (the exception is his often quoted statement of following his state of Virginia if she chooses secession or union. Curiously, those who mostly cite this statement fail to read the clause Lee also inserts of his belief that secession is doubtfully Constitutional. Blount gives the full quote). Unlike Grant and Napoleon, his orders of battle were usually vague and (on its face) uninspired (except when given to superior general such as Jackson, and Stuart, as has been noted in numerous other biographies and histories of the Civil War). Lee is noted for some spectacular victories, but he also can be recalled for equally spectacular failures and it is doubtful that his most famous strategies would have worked over more astute generals rather than McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker. Just imagine his splitting his army against Sherman, or Grant or leaving himself without a line of retreat against these gentlemen? But, Lee's endearment is mostly traceable to the paucity of insight into his character. He is there for everyone to read what they want to in his person. Blount takes this opportunity to speculate into Lee's psyche by considering the influence on him by his parents, one of whom was an American hero, but a neglectful-embarrassing father; the other a virtuous mother, but emotionally-physically dependent on young Robert. Blount is not a psychologist, but as opposed to other biographers with no significant psychological training (see e.g., Doris Kearns Goodwin's bio on Lyndon Johnson), he does not try to insert this form of speculation as fact. The bulk of this thesis is reserved for a section titled, "Speculation." As a person with clinical training, I found his psychological notations perfectly reasonable. And let's face it, those who only see goodness and deity in Lee (see e.g., Jeffrey Shaara's pathetically simplistic "historical" novels) are also just speculating. There is little left that I can see to write about Lee. However, I think the more interesting question for future writing is the psychological, sociological, and anthropological aspects of those who use Lee as the symbol for a "pure" society that, in fact, never existed. To clarify, Blount does not attack Lee, he is simply seeking to understand Lee. The author seems to be an admirer of the general, but not blind with passion. I also recommend Tony Horwitz, "Confederates in the Attic;" Emory Thomas, "Robert E. Lee," and especially, William Davis, "Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of American."
Rating:
Summary: Trying to penetrate the Marble Man.
Review: I am not familiar with the author, Roy Blount, from his previous writings, but I believe that he showed himself quite an able biographer with this latest edition of the Penguin Lives series. In some ways, his assignment was the most difficult of characters to study. Robert E. Lee is one of the more enigmatic figures in American history, but it is hard to say why he is not just a footnote instead of a figure of reverence, to some folks. Unlike, say Lincoln or Jefferson, he wrote very little beyond chatty personal letters and so we cannot study his writings and speeches to better understand his character and development (the exception is his often quoted statement of following his state of Virginia if she chooses secession or union. Curiously, those who mostly cite this statement fail to read the clause Lee also inserts of his belief that secession is doubtfully Constitutional. Blount gives the full quote). Unlike Grant and Napoleon, his orders of battle were usually vague and (on its face) uninspired (except when given to superior general such as Jackson, and Stuart, as has been noted in numerous other biographies and histories of the Civil War). Lee is noted for some spectacular victories, but he also can be recalled for equally spectacular failures and it is doubtful that his most famous strategies would have worked over more astute generals rather than McClellan, Burnside, and Hooker. Just imagine his splitting his army against Sherman, or Grant or leaving himself without a line of retreat against these gentlemen? But, Lee's endearment is mostly traceable to the paucity of insight into his character. He is there for everyone to read what they want to in his person. Blount takes this opportunity to speculate into Lee's psyche by considering the influence on him by his parents, one of whom was an American hero, but a neglectful-embarrassing father; the other a virtuous mother, but emotionally-physically dependent on young Robert. Blount is not a psychologist, but as opposed to other biographers with no significant psychological training (see e.g., Doris Kearns Goodwin's bio on Lyndon Johnson), he does not try to insert this form of speculation as fact. The bulk of this thesis is reserved for a section titled, "Speculation." As a person with clinical training, I found his psychological notations perfectly reasonable. And let's face it, those who only see goodness and deity in Lee (see e.g., Jeffrey Shaara's pathetically simplistic "historical" novels) are also just speculating. There is little left that I can see to write about Lee. However, I think the more interesting question for future writing is the psychological, sociological, and anthropological aspects of those who use Lee as the symbol for a "pure" society that, in fact, never existed. To clarify, Blount does not attack Lee, he is simply seeking to understand Lee. The author seems to be an admirer of the general, but not blind with passion. I also recommend Tony Horwitz, "Confederates in the Attic;" Emory Thomas, "Robert E. Lee," and especially, William Davis, "Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of American."
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing study of a great general
Review: I found this book to be very disappointing. Significant parts of Lee's life are poorly covered. The author seems to want to psychoanalyze Lee. Inordinate time is spend on Lee's realtionship with his mother (mostly conjuncture) and the flaws in his personality.
This book is a very poor treatment of a great and complex man.
If you want an insight in to Lee, don't buy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing Great
Review: I know little more about Robert E. Lee now than I did before reading this book. Unlike the other Penguin Lives I've read, this one does not fit much significant information into a compact book.
Rating:
Summary: Admirable Insights Into A Complex Man
Review: Robert E. Lee remains one of the great heroic figures--and one of the great enigmas--of the Civil War era.
A host of factors, from his own noble stocism and reticince, to his adoption as a symbol of reconciliation in the decades after the great war, have conspired to rob Lee of much of his humanity. More than 130 years after Lee's death, Roy Blount does a remarkable job of transfusing the blood of life back into the marble man.
If you're looking for a comprehensive biography of Lee, Emory Thomas' might be a better choice. But if you're looking for a briefer sketch that manages to cover the outline of his life, while providing some insights to the upbringing, education and other factors that shaped his character, this book is an excellent choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Blount Does Well with the Material
Review: Roy Blount, Jr. is an interesting choice to write the short biography of Robert E. Lee for the Penguin Lives series. Historians have had their chance and now it is Blount's and he makes good use of many of their interpretations, in addition to his selective, yet effective, use of primary sources. All the facts are in evidence and the details feel right. The narrative is straight forward and moves at a brisk pace appropriate to the small format of this impressive series of biographies. The usual witty style of the author breaks through on occasion and he lets his best self come out in the appendices, including one on the humour of Lee and Lee's attitude to slavery. A biography of Lee still suffers a little as Lee never seems to come across as colourfully as most of the Civil War leaders but the author does his best to provide his own colour commentary. A quick, interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent short bio of a military enigma
Review: Several generals of the American Civil war are enigmas, to various extents. Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, for instance, is very difficult to read, because he left so little in the way of letters or whatever that tell you anything of what he was thinking. Robert E. Lee was equally close-mouthed about this sort of thing, and amazingly stiff and standoffish with most male acquaintances and friends, to boot. The result is that we know very little of what he thought or felt about a variety of things, and must piece together opinions from various sources. So it was with some trepidation that I approached the Penguin Lives version of Robert E. Lee. These are intended to be very short biographies: sketches rather than anything detailed. In addition to the fact that it's a short book, the series editor took a chance and commissioned Roy Blount Jr. to write the book. Blount is a Southerner (though he lives mostly in the North now) who writes newspaper columns and books, and is generally what's called a humorist. He also appears on the radio. This is (as far as I know) his first venture into real non-fiction (as opposed to funny stuff that's based on reality) and I'll admit I was some what curious and a bit apprehensive as to what he would do with the book. I needn't have worried. Blount is an accomplished writer (obviously) and does a good job of outlining Lee's life and career. He's also a Southerner, and understands the mystic attachment people of the south have for their culture and society, and recreates what things must have been like for Lee in the mid-19th century. The military aspects of Lee's life are dealt with only in outline (as you would expect in a book with ca. 170 pages of text, but they're explained in enough detail that you get the gist of what's happening. There's a fair amount of information on Lee's life, little of it new, but much of interpreted in a fashion different at least in nuance from previous biographers. Unusually, Blount relegates his speculation about Lee, his character, and such things as his sexuality, to an appendix labeled "Speculation." This is very unusual in a biography, and I would encourage other writers to use a similar device. While I didn't agree with every one of Blount's judgments, I could see how he came to the conclusions, anyway. On that note, I enjoyed the book a great deal, and think it valuable, in spite of its small size.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad but a little o rambling
Review: this book was a basic biography of one of the greatest men in history. I learned a lot about Lee's non-war years in this book but I felt the author looked at some things and made them out to be more then they truely where. So what if Lee liked to have his feet tickled it doesn't make who he is I like to make my self sneeze does that change who I am no so some of he things looked into are kind of stupid and he talks about them for way to long.This is a good book though because you do learn about Lee also as another reviewer states the appendixes are kind of rambling and probably could do with out them all together.
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