Book Description

An American icon, Robert E. Lee ranks among the world's truly great leaders.Al Kaltman, author of the highly acclaimed Cigars, Whiskey, and Winning (Prentice Hall Press) which illuminates the leadership legacy of Ulysses S. Grant, now turns his attention to reflect on the remarkable life of the Civil War general and his practical lessons for today's leaders--corporate, civic, and military.

Arranged chronologically, The Genius of Robert E. Lee presents Lee's personal incidents in his own words and is then followed by powerful advice for today's leaders.The years Lee spent in the Army before the Civil War are the basis for many practical lessons in values-based leadership.How Lee dealt with the post-war years teaches valuable lessons in taking on new leadership roles after failure and managing a second career. Lessons focus on--

Taking command from a solid foundation and projecting a winning image.

Learning while teaching and delegating without abdicating.

Rising to challenges and continuously striving for improvement.

Robert E. Lee is best remembered as the superb general who held the Union commanders at bay until his outnumbered, outgunned, and poorly fed army was finally overwhelmed by Union forces. Today's leaders, especially those contending for scarce resources while meeting the challenges posed by better financed and more technically advanced competitors, will profit from Lee's examples as they are presented in this book. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great insight and thoughts on management and leadership!
Al Kaltman has assembled an interesting and refreshing book about issues General Lee faced during his entire life. More of the documented letters featuring opinions and Lee offered others during his military adventures through Mexico and the Civil War are intriguing. Kaltman takes Lee's approach to subjects on managing people or conflicts and offers advice on how to handle similar circumstances in business and personal life situations. This book is rather a quick read as topics such as preparing one's self, taking command, continuous improvement and the winning image are just a few of many that are featured.

This book is one you can jump from chapter to chapter on and not read from start to finish if you wanted as it deals with leadership approaches for various subjects. This book I recommend to anyone involved in business be it a salesperson or manager looking to better themselves with great thought. Also it can be a book one could keep with them at work as a helpful guide to reflect back on for insight on how to deal with situations that arise. Lee's style of handling issues is usually the correct and friendly non-confrontational approach which many could benefit from reading. On another side of this great book, Lee's failures or mistakes are also covered and Lee offers his thoughts on how he should have handled things differently.

Practical as Well as Principled Then and Still Relevant Now
Obviously, Kaltman found in Lee's management strategies and tactics relevance to the contemporary business world. The book's subtitle reveals Kaltman's primary theme: "Leadership lessons for the outgunned, outnumbered, and underfinanced." That is probably true of almost all of the companies now struggling to survive. The material is carefully organized within 11 chapters which correspond in chronological sequence with the various stages of Lee's career. Kaltman has identified 260 specific "Lessons" each of which he summarizes within an appropriate context and is accompanied by a Lee quotation, followed by a brief "Advice" mini-commentary. Unlike so many other books which purport to draw such correlations between the battlefield and the marketplace (e.g. The Military Genius of Daffy Duck), this one is sensible. Granted, many of the "Lessons" are rather obvious and much of the "Advice" is somewhat simplistic. However, the content is quite substantial. I think this would be an excellent gift for someone about to begin or who has only recently begun a business career. Here are Kaltman's concluding comments: "Robert E. Lee led armies in battle, helped reconcile a people to their defeat, and built a great educational institution. Lee never worried about his legacy; he focused on the job at hand. He believed that our legacy is the work we do to improve the human condition and bring about better times: "We may not see them but our children will, and we will live over again in them." You may also wish to check out Kaltman's Cigars, Whiskey & Winning: Leadership Lessons from Ulysses S. Grant, Crocker's Robert E. Lee on Leadership, and Hilton's Leadership Lessons from Robert E. Lee: Tips, Tactics, and Strategies for Leaders and Managers.

A textbook rather than a history book.
I never read a book in this style before. It is not a history of Lee, but a list of lessons illustrated by events in his career.

The lessons are laid out chronologically in Lee's career. They highlight as much about his strengths as his weaknesses. More importantly for me, they give an insight into the Civil War that is uniquely from the perspective of General Lee.

This is a book that can appeal to Civil War readers, or it can appeal to those interested in Management.

It is an easy read, I like the style, and it is a book that you can stop and start as you like. No need to plough through it all in one go.

Great Advice from the Life of A Great Leader
Al Kaltman has done us a great favor by writing, "The Genius of Robert E. Lee." His subtitle grabbed my attention immediately, "Leadership Lessons for the Outgunned, Outnumbered, and Underfinanced." Kaltman divides his work on leadership based on the chronology of Lee's life giving the reader 260 brief vignettes delving into the personal and professional life of this great American. The 260 entries gives the busy reader a kind-of "daily devotional" Monday through Friday for all 52 weeks of a single year. Also helpful is Kaltman's use of putting Lee's actual words in italics in each entry. The index at the conclusion of the work is also a helpful feature for quick and easy subject referencing. Kaltman brings a wealth of information together smoothly, from the idiosyncrasies of the man, and the historial events of the time, to the present day realities of leadership and management in the workplace. Students of Lee, Civil War enthusiasts, and the corporate leaders of today's business environment can all benefit from delving into Kaltman's treasure chest of thoughts, ideas, and principles gleaned from the fasinating life of this great man in history. For anyone who's ever felt like they were outgunned in life, or outnumbered in the cut-throat competition of the 21st century business world, Kaltman's work will introduce you to the genius of a man who was overwhelmed militarily, but who was never conquered in life or in the lasting legacy of leadership that he left to us all. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This collection of essays scratches a bit of the luster off General Robert E. Lee by examining his ability as a commander. The 21 essays were authored by current researchers on the Civil War and by 19th century military analysts, including a Union veteran. There are five new articles in the book. The unifying theme of the articles is the questioning of Lee's role in the defeat of the Confederacy. Greatly admired by his troops, he plunged the Army of Northern Virginia into some of the most brutal fighting in military history. Lee the Soldier carefully weighs the notion that Lee's bold moves may have hastened the South's defeat. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

a good introduction to a truly larger-than-life figure
You can't hope to understand the U.S. Civil War without coming to some kind of an understanding of Robert E. Lee. The South's preeminent commander was a larger-than-life figure in his own time, and continues to occupy a very prominent place in the American imagination. He is seen as the personification of the Southern aristocrat, the Christian gentleman, and the brilliant military commander. To some extent, all those characterizations are true; but they hardly tell the full story. The essays in this volume serve as a fine introduction to the ongoing debate about the true meaning of Robert E. Lee to us as Americans. Contributors like Douglas S. Freeman portray him as a godlike, awesome figure; revisionists like Alan T. Nolan brilliantly reexamine the traditional view, suggesting that Lee had flaws, both as a man and a commander. The most recent essays, such as Gary Gallagher's contribution, suggest that although the revisionists are to some extent correct, Lee was nevertheless a source of strength, not weakness, to the Confederacy. The debate will doubtless continue to rage, and if you want to get brought up to speed, this is the place to start. ... Read more

Book Description

Whether opposing Nathaniel Bacon and his Rebels in 1676, or condemning English colonial policy in1776, or turning back the Union Army at the Seven Days' battles of 1862, the descendants of Richard and Anne Lee have occupied a preeminent place in American history. They were among the first families of Virginia. Two were signers of the Declaration of Independence and several others distinguished themselves during the Revolutionary War. And one, Robert E. Lee, remains widely admired for his lofty character and military success.

In The Lees of Virginia, Paul Nagel chronicles seven generations of Lees, from the family founder Richard to General Robert E. Lee, covering over two hundred years of American history. We meet Thomas Lee, who dreamed of America as a continental empire. His daughter was Hannah Lee Corbin, a non-conformist in lifestyle and religion, while his son, Richard Henry Lee, was a tempestuous figure who wore black silk over a disfigured hand when he made the motion in Congress for Independence. Another of Thomas' sons, Arthur Lee, created a political storm by his accusations against Benjamin Franklin. Arthur's cousin was Light-Horse Harry Lee, a controversial cavalry officer in the Revolutionary War, whose wild real estate speculation led to imprisonment for debt and finally self-exile in the Caribbean. One of Harry's sons, Henry Lee, further disgraced the family by seducing his sister-in-law and frittering away Stratford, the Lees' ancestral home. Another son, however, became the family's redeeming figure--Robert E. Lee, a brilliant tactician whose ruling motto was self-denial and who saw God's hand in all things. In these and numerous other portraits, Nagel discloses how, from 1640 to 1870, a family spirit united the Lees, making them a force in Virginian and American affairs.

Paul Nagel is a leading chronicler of families prominent in our history. His Descent from Glory, a masterful narrative account of four generations of Adamses, was a Book-of-the-Month Club main selection and a brilliant critical and popular success. The New Yorker hailed it as "intelligent, tactful, and spiritually generous," and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian W.A. Swanberg, in the Chicago Sun-Times, called it "a magnificent embarrassment of biographical riches."Now, in The Lees of Virginia, Nagel brings his skills to bear on another major American family, taking readers inside the great estates of the Old Dominion and the turbulent lives of the Lee men and women. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Glimpse Into The Life Of A Family
"The Lees" tells the story of a remarkable American family from its establishment in Virginia to General Robert E. Lee. It gives us a glimpse into their lives and the stages on which they played.

One theme which runs through the book was that this family had many failures. Although there were shining lights, such as Richard Henry Lee and Robert E. Lee, the more typical Lee was R.E. Lee's father, Gen. Lighthorse Harry Lee, who squandered his wealth, spent time in debtor's prison and ended his life in flight from his creditors.

The two leading figures of the family are Richard Henry Lee and Robert E. Lee.

Richard Henry was one of the leaders of the call for American Independence. As the sponsor of the Independence Resolution, he would have been a natural for the Committee to draft the Declaration. His opponents in the Virginia delegation blocked his appointment, insisting on the conservative Benjamin Harrison. Less conservative delegates blocked Harrison, with Thomas Jefferson being the compromise choice. Oh, how history could have been different! Richard Henry had a long and, on the balance, distinguished career during which he led the "Lee Party" consisting of himself, his brothers and other Lee relatives.

The coverage of Robert E. Lee amounts to a biography lite, with an emphasis on his involvement in family matters. There are better sources to learn about him.

Much of the book consists of quotations from letters and the provisions of wills of many people who would have never been mentioned in a book had they not been related to Richard Henry Lee and Robert E. Lee. This makes portions of the book rather boring.

I picked up two ideas which emerged from this book. One is the tremendous importance of inheritance for the Lees. This may have been exaggerated because wills are documents which survive, but many people's destiny seems to have been dependent on the inheritance of a farm or a plantation. The other is that it seems that, but for a few government positions, few of them ever aspired to any job other than to manage their farms. This may reflect the nature of the economy and may also reflect the social limitations on their class.

Overall this book has some merit. One could read biographies of Richard Henry Lee and Robert E. Lee and forget the rest, but then the reader would miss the story of how this family worked together over the centuries. Make you own choice.

Amazing
This was a very enlightning book about the Lees history. Some very fascinating stories about the lees and their roots ... Read more

Amazon.com

Civil War scholar Michael Fellman investigates the psychology andbeliefs of that conflict's most admired general in an intriguing intellectualbiography. From his days as a cadet at West Point, Robert E. Lee (1807-70)struck his companions and teachers as "a full-blown aristocratic beau ideal ...tall, stunningly handsome, bright, manly, commanding." His brilliant leadershipof the Confederate army against daunting odds only increased Southerners'reverence, which came to be shared by many white Northerners after the partisanpassions of the war had faded. Fellman probes behind the façade of the"Marble Man" to discover the conflicts and uncertainties that seethed there. Sonof an American Revolutionary legend who ended his life in bankruptcy anddisgrace, Lee felt that he must redeem his family name and become the perfectSouthern gentleman; yet, he struggled to reconcile his ideals of Christianvirtue, self-denial, humility, duty, and honor with his desire for fame andsuccess. "In a very real sense," Fellman writes, "the Civil War rescued RobertE. Lee from marginality and obscurity. In it, he learned to focus his values,his talent, and his deepest feelings on the terrible martial problems at hand."Exploring those values, Fellman unsparingly reveals their roots in racism,repression, and hypocrisy; yet, he acknowledges and admires (with reservations)Lee's sincere adherence to them. "He walked not above but within all thecontradictions of a specific society," Fellman writes. "This makes him far moreinteresting than some boring marble representation of the supposedly unitary andperfect saint." Some ardent worshippers of "Saint Robert" might disagree, butmost students of American history will find this a stimulating reassessment.--Wendy Smith ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Robert Edward Lee was born to be a military leader. His father was leader of George Washington's light cavalry in the War of Independence, and Robert himself was a prize pupil at West Point military academy. After successes in the Mexican war he became commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and then led it to both success and ultimate failure during the testing campaigns of the Civil War. If Chancellorsville was his finest achievement then Gettysburg was his downfall. His masterful tactical mind and strength of will may have sometimes been dulled by his occasional lack of firmness with middle-ranking officers but he contributed magnificently to the Confederate cause, overt personal ambition notwithstanding.

This empathetic study of Lee's military life can be used in conjunction with Brain Murphy's forthcoming 'In Focus' volume on Ulysses S. Grant.

Philip Katcher is a noted Civil War historian, archivist and writer. His Brassey's Almanac: The American Civil War (Spring 2003) has been warmly received. He lives in Pennsylvania. ... Read more

Book Description

This book offers both a succinct biography and "the" definitive collection of nearly 350 photographs, important paintings, original ingravings, artifacts, and significant documents pertaining to the Confederate general. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Could have Been Great !!!
This book certainly had a lot of potential. Unfortunatly there are too many errors. Some very obvious --- Samuel Cooper was not REL's brother in law. He was REL's brother's brother in law by marriage. And the photographs are not always correctly captioned. The dust jacket sleeve mentions over 70 some photos. But Lee was only photographed around 40 times. Some photos he counts twice when in reality they are of a same pose. And some photos could have been larger so the reader could actually see the beauty of the photograph. And some photos that have been discovered many years ago were simply not even in the book. This book could have great but the author did not do enough homework. He needs to go back and try again using better researchers.

Robert E. Lee AMERICA'S GENERAL
Robert E. Lee was America's General. He was a great man who'd legacy is to be told forever. He did not support the radical slavery movements of the south but did love his native state. He was a calm and bold gentleman who's gentle face and lovig nature made him a legend in his own right. Lee deserves the honor that is preserved in this book. This book captures the true beauty of AMERICA'S GENERAL.

An excellent reference on Lee
This text should be in every Civil War collectors library. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Nicely written but dated.
As the previous reader wrote, this book is a homage to Robert E. Lee which exactly don't make it a very good biography if the author was too much in love with his subject. Certain sense of objectivity goes out the window. It doesn't helped that the author proves to be rather pro-southern in outlook which heavily tainted his approach. The book read very well though but much of the author's work sounds very dated compared to the newer works on Lee - that reduced Lee into something more human. I think authors like Clifford Dowdey seem to be outdated as the Civil War moves into a more objective outlook.

Homage to an American Hero
An excellent, thorough, effecting biography of a great American. There are many individuals in our nation's history who commanded armies and adulation during their lifetimes which we would be hesitant to call "Hero" - often times these individuals serve their own interests first, inspired by their own egotism (as contemporaries to Lee, Beauregard and Sheridan come to mind). R. E. Lee was of a different mold, born into a proud family humbled by the financial misfortunes of his father, Revolutionary War soldier "Light Horse" Harry Lee (who served time in prison for debts), R. E. Lee's entire life was conducted out of a primary sense of duty: Duty to his family, his God, and his country. Throughout this work, Dowdey convincingly argues that Lee's position must be interpreted within the framework of the Virginia society in which he was raised. When Virginia seceded from the Union (unwillingly, the majority voted to remain in the Union until Lincoln called for force of arms to march on Virginia's soil) Lee saw it as his duty, as a Virginian, to go with his native state and family. This despite the fact that Lee was strongly in favor of working within the framework of the Republic and in favor of an emancipation plan, even after General Scott had offered Lee command of the newly forming Union Army. This work by Dowdey is much more than a biography of one of our great historical figures - it is also a convincing commentary on the politics of the time. Lest we forget, Northern Radical Republicans shared the responsibility for committing the country to the catastrophe that was the American Civil War - in many cases, worked to achieve that end. Even at the point of firing on Fort Sumter, a reasonable, compromise approach (keeping the same objectives in mind) could have retained the key Southern and border states of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee in the Union (or at least out of the Confederacy). However, Lincoln, acting on behalf of the Radical Republicans, committed the country to a fratricidal war that degenerated into a four-year atrocity committed on the native population. Sumner, Stevens, Stanton - these men cared nothing about preserving the Union or bettering the human condition. They cared about subjugating one section of the country to serve the interests of the Northeastern financial-industrial complex. Dowdey convincingly argues that the ACW was the end of the federated Republic envisioned by the founding fathers and the beginning of the special interest group Democracy that persists to the present day. The majority of the nation (including Lincoln and Lee) was in agreement on the slavery issue - an evil existed which had to be eliminated in a controlled manner over time. In fact, the Virginia state government was on the verge of approving an emancipation plan in 1832 - only to be foiled by fears generated by Northern abolitionists promoting violence (conveniently enough, calling for action in sections of the country far from their own families). The Radical Republicans played the slavery card to stain the South, ensuring that sectional strife would continue to divide the country for as long as possible, providing opportunities for political exploitation. This is a great read, and stands the test of time in answer to more recent works (e.g. Nolan's Lee Reconsidered) which seek to denigrate Lee's status in history in order to cast a more favorable light on Lee's opponents. Any question as to Lee's motives, especially his "decision" (in reality, there was no decision to be made) to continue fighting through the siege at Petersburg and the retreat to Appomattox, are thoroughly answered. Lee's life was consumed by his sense of duty. Lee trusted wholly to the Providence of God and his life was service for the public good - anything else was not worthy of consideration. Consider Dowdey's work on Lee well before considering later attempts at revisionism.

Good book about the entire life of Robert E. Lee
I enjoyed this book very much, as it gave a good overview of the entire life of Robert E. Lee and not only the war years. It included quotes from letters that he wrote to family members, as well as things other people wrote about him at the time, and that added to the flavor of the book and gave a good sense of what kind of man he was. I especially enjoyed reading the brief biography of his father and how the book included commentary on what was happening elsewhere to give a well-roundedness to the life of Lee. However, I felt the author's commentary on reconstruction went on a bit too long. The author's tone was very "pro" Lee and, in that vein, he criticized others, which I don't think was necessary to get the point across. Altogether, I enjoyed this book and it has inspired me to want to seek out more information, not only about Robert E. Lee, but about the Civil War in general, and about other leaders during those times. ... Read more

Book Description

1912. This biography of Robert E. Lee aims to give an intelligible biographical narrative. However, it aims much more to give a clear, consistent, sympathetic portrait of a great soul. In short, its purpose is not so much biography as psychography. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Lee from a very personal perspective
This book differs from the many, many biographies of Lee in that it focuses on his psyche rather than his experiences. The author attemps to analyze the character himself in his various roles as soldier, leader, husband, father, private citizen, university president, etc. The writing style did not please me as much as the content. It was interesting to see the different facets of the man presented separately and with supporting documentation from Lee's own recorded words and the anecdotes of others. For those who cannot get enough of Robert E. Lee, this a good addition to the bookshelf. ... Read more