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Summary: Applying the lessons learned from Lee
Review: Rather than preaching about Lee's leadership style, Crocker details how Lee made decisions during the Civil War and applies those experiences to the business world today. The summaries Crocker provides at the end of each chapter help to focus the reader on the most important points made. The major themes focused on are setting and achieving goals, risk-taking, and personal humility and how they can lead to victory (in battle or business challenge.)This book is valuable not only to managers, but parents, clergy and anyone else in a leadership role. The lessons are straight-forward and easily applied to daily/business life. For those of us that are managers, our staffs and co-workers will certainly thank us for reading and applying the information. It is certain that any reader will come away with useful new ideas on leadership that they have not considered before.
Rating: 
Summary: Always Enjoyed Reading about Gen. Lee
Review: Robert E. Lee was a brilliant and fascinating man. Just by reading this, you can learn to live by his wisdom. If I could be 5% of what this man was like, I'd consider my life a major success. For those who would fault his siding with the Confederacy, remember for him, it was a very painful decision, made when he felt he had to follow the wishes of his state. Enjoy his wisdom and put and prejudices you may have about him aside.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Case Study in Character
Review: This book is not a biography of Robert E. Lee, nor is it a history of the Civil War, although the reader will learn plenty about both. This book is a case study of the character of Robert E. Lee. In exploring his character, it becomes clear why he was such a great and beloved leader. Lee was, first and foremost, a Christian. He understood human imperfections and made allowances for them, and he was genuinely concerned for the well-being of everyone - even the enemies against whom he fought. Lee also believed in rewarding and promoting those who did their work well. Knowing all of this is key to understanding his leadership. Crocker also illuminates two mysteries about Lee, that, perhaps, have become clouded with the passage of years. The first is the fact that he fought against U.S.A. Crocker explains that Lee opposed secession, but opposed even more the idea of forcing the Southern states to remain in the Union at gunpoint. He considered himself a Virginian first and foremost, and when push came to shove, he could not take up arms against the Old Dominion state, where so many of his relatives and friends lived. At no time was Lee enthusiastic about the war; even in fighting, he sought to bring the war quickly to an end. Lee refused to permit his men to steal from or to harm any civilians, even in Union territory, and even though some Union soldiers had no such qualms about Confederate civilians. The second mystery is his relationship with slavery. Lee opposed slavery and saw it as a moral evil. Even so, he wanted to abolish slavery gradually, because he was concerned that the former slaves should have the means to provide for themselves before they were set free. In this, he opposed the abolition movement, but he was no defender of slavery. The description of Lee's surrender to U.S. Grant is particularly touching. This is due in part to Lee's concern for the well-being of the people of the South (and this was his ultimate reason for surrendering) and in part to the picture it paints of two honorable generals agreeing to terms of surrender like gentlemen. Even Grant was impressed with Lee's personal dignity, although not with the cause for which he fought. Crocker highlights the virtuous aspects of Lee's character and shows them at work. The virtues, then, become something to be lived out, not something abstract. He ends each chapter with a summary of character norms that made Lee the great man that he was. It was most helpful of Crocker to include a bibliography at the end, because the reader of this book is very likely to want to read more about General Lee.
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Summary: Patriotism
Review: While General Lee certainly had his flaws, a lack of patriotism was not one of them. It was precisely this profound love of country that led him to serve the Confederacy, defending Virginia.
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