Rating: 
Summary: Solid biography of Lee the man, short on military history
Review: Thomas has given us a post-revisionist portrait of Lee that addresses the general as a human being much better than it presents him as a brilliant military strategist. His complicated relationship with his rakish father, his sainted mother, his demanding wife, and his children are all central foci of the book; his relationships with those outside his family get relatively short shrift. It is amazing how little of this book deals with the actual history of Lee's Civil War battles; more attention seems to be given to his involvement in the Mexican War. Indeed, the book seems to give disproportionate attention to his life prior to the Civil War, with relatively lesser attention to what happened after he became commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia. Since the latter period is that in which he made his mark on history, this focus is rather disappointing. But Thomas does a relatively able job of dispelling the image of Lee as "the marble man," and for that, Civil War afficionados owe him a debt of gratitude.
Rating:
Summary: Lee the man....maybe
Review: Thomas has written a thorough, well-researched albeit opinioned biography of Robert E. Lee that focuses more on the man than the battles. I gave it 4 stars because the entire book was engrossing--never a bit dull. He claims to be middle-of-the-road between the extreme views of Lee. I think he leans quite a bit toward the detractors. Much of his portrayal of the inner man is speculative, in my opinion. While he may well have gotten most of it right, I don't think Thomas has Lee "all figured out" as much as he seems to think he does. His is another opinion on the field of many such. That said, Thomas has delved into the details with extreme scrutiny. You can see that he really tries to be fair. I think maybe most of my disappointment is that I had hoped this book would make Lee less a mystery, and it did not, not for me anyway.I do highly recommend this book, not only because it has excellent scholarship, but also because it's a pleasure to read--a most difficult combination!
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