Take a photo of a barcode or cover
239 reviews for:
Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause
Ty Seidule
4.4 AVERAGE
239 reviews for:
Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause
Ty Seidule
4.4 AVERAGE
A book written by a man willing to say “Mea Culpa” about his previous support of a white supremacist folk hero. It was refreshing to read a book by a career Army officer and academic that describes their journey to a different opinion from their early days. I wasn’t even raised in the South but was still indoctrinated into believing elements of the Lost Cause myth.
In my freshman year of college a friend took me home to Georgia for a weekend. She proudly showed me her family’s literal shrine to Lee in their living room. While I still believed in the “state’s rights” myth about the War of the Rebellion I was very uncomfortable with the canonizing of Lee into some kind of southern religion. I now understand why.
Seidule’s book sheds light on an issue that shouldn’t still be causing problems but yet it is. That issue is the south’s obsession with the Lost Cause. I will be having my teen read this book along with her American History textbooks next school year.
If you see this, Dr. Seidule, thank you for your book.
In my freshman year of college a friend took me home to Georgia for a weekend. She proudly showed me her family’s literal shrine to Lee in their living room. While I still believed in the “state’s rights” myth about the War of the Rebellion I was very uncomfortable with the canonizing of Lee into some kind of southern religion. I now understand why.
Seidule’s book sheds light on an issue that shouldn’t still be causing problems but yet it is. That issue is the south’s obsession with the Lost Cause. I will be having my teen read this book along with her American History textbooks next school year.
If you see this, Dr. Seidule, thank you for your book.
This man dragged Robert E Lee to filth numerous times. King behavior. Robert E Lee sucks and this writer is amazing
”Truth is ruthless.”
”History is dangerous.”
I was driving my car around downtown Monroe, GA (not my hometown by my residence for the past two years) listening to NPR. A West Point historian was going on about his uncomfortable history of hero-worshipping Robert E. Lee. Then he started talking about moving to a small town in rural Georgia named Monroe. I instantly cranked up the volume and listened intently. He told about the infamous Moore’s Ford Lynching but he also talked about things like the Klansmen Felker who has a road and a park named after him in town. I knew I had to read the book.
The premise of the book is pretty simple: Robert E. Lee violated the oaths he took every time he got a promotion in the military. Rather than squashing a rebellion, he led a rebellion against the United States. This fits the definition of treason, plain and simple. Rather than write an academic tome about this, Seidule writes a memoir about his own relationship with Lee. He talks about growing up in Alexandria, VA; moving to Monroe, GA; and attending Washington and Lee University.
This is an important book. Obviously, the chapter on Monroe was the most interesting to me. Some of the other parts of the book did drag a bit and it seemed like he was beating a dead horse by the end, but it is definitely thorough. This is a must-read for southerners in 2021.
”History is dangerous.”
I was driving my car around downtown Monroe, GA (not my hometown by my residence for the past two years) listening to NPR. A West Point historian was going on about his uncomfortable history of hero-worshipping Robert E. Lee. Then he started talking about moving to a small town in rural Georgia named Monroe. I instantly cranked up the volume and listened intently. He told about the infamous Moore’s Ford Lynching but he also talked about things like the Klansmen Felker who has a road and a park named after him in town. I knew I had to read the book.
The premise of the book is pretty simple: Robert E. Lee violated the oaths he took every time he got a promotion in the military. Rather than squashing a rebellion, he led a rebellion against the United States. This fits the definition of treason, plain and simple. Rather than write an academic tome about this, Seidule writes a memoir about his own relationship with Lee. He talks about growing up in Alexandria, VA; moving to Monroe, GA; and attending Washington and Lee University.
This is an important book. Obviously, the chapter on Monroe was the most interesting to me. Some of the other parts of the book did drag a bit and it seemed like he was beating a dead horse by the end, but it is definitely thorough. This is a must-read for southerners in 2021.
challenging
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
Very informative, loved the audiobook, made the content engaging and easy to process.
This was an amazing and necessary read. If ever we are to get past the Lost Cause mythology surrounding the Civil War, those of us brought it up in it are going to have to puncture it. Colonel Seidule sets out to do just that. He openly admits he was raised to revere the Confederacy and straight out worship Robert E. Lee. That word is not idly chosen. He was literally raised to worship the man. He recounts the books and movies that taught him the South could no wrong, that slavery was no big deal, or even that it was a positive good for both master and slave (he mentions "Meet Robert E. Lee," "Gone With the Wind" and "Song of the South" among others). He mentions how his wife was eventually horrified when he brought her to Lee Chapel on Washington and Lee University Campus and she noticed that the reclining statue of Lee was in the spot where Christian chapels have their communion table. And thus began a long and painful journey to unlearn everything he thought he knew about Lee and the southern cause until finally he renders his verdict: Whatever else he was, Robert E. Lee was a traitor who betrayed his country, murdered his fellow citizens and all in the name of extending racial slavery forever. While I was raised in the North, I also was taught to think kindly of Lee and Jackson "the educated Christian gentlemen" of the south and to think that they were simply fighting for their families or their state or to protect their homes. That belief will not stand up to scholarly scrutiny. The cracks are appearing in the foundation of the Lost Cause and I hope to live to see it tumble. I hope someday kids will be reared to value "the better angels of our nature" that Lincoln and Grant and the United States Army (not the Union Army, the US Army) fought against the rebels intent on overturning a fair election and establishing racial slavery forever. If we don't teach the true past, it may yet be our future. In the aftermath of November's election and January 6, 2021, we can't afford to ignore the past.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
A good mix of memoir and history. As a person who grew up in the south, the way the civil war was talked about has never sat right with me. I sat through many a history class saying it was about states rights and trying to “both sides” the argument. Honestly, I liked listening to this book because it gave me more hope that other people can change their opinions. He does a good job showing just how entrenched he was in southern rhetoric originally. Definitely dense, so a good time for an audiobook!
This is a profound, important and relevant book and it should be required reading. It perfectly illustrates why celebrating and memorializing the Confederacy and perpetuating the Lost Cause Myth is wrong and dangerous.
The author does a fantastic job in backing his arguments up with historical fact. The book is well researched. I learned a lot about how white southerners have subverted the Civil War into something that it's not. Subverted for the purpose of white supremacy. Horrible.
The author had some awful views in his youth, views he held due to his southern upbringing. But as he slowly unfolds his story in the book, he denounced those views and comes to see how awful they truly were. He's now fighting to end the Lost Cause Myth and educate people on why celebrating and memorializing the Confederacy is wrong. I applaud him for this.
A must read. 6/5 stars. May end up being the most important and impactful book I read this year.
The author does a fantastic job in backing his arguments up with historical fact. The book is well researched. I learned a lot about how white southerners have subverted the Civil War into something that it's not. Subverted for the purpose of white supremacy. Horrible.
The author had some awful views in his youth, views he held due to his southern upbringing. But as he slowly unfolds his story in the book, he denounced those views and comes to see how awful they truly were. He's now fighting to end the Lost Cause Myth and educate people on why celebrating and memorializing the Confederacy is wrong. I applaud him for this.
A must read. 6/5 stars. May end up being the most important and impactful book I read this year.