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guinness74 's review for:
I received a free copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
I was pleased to have come across this book because I’ve never been convinced of Robert E. Lee’s greatness, though I certainly grew up with several of the myths surrounding the ‘Lost Cause’ that Seidule covers in his book. My opinion has always been that blue beats gray and that slavery is horrifying, so I never fell under the sway of the states’ rights argument. However, I have friends who are Lee apologists and that rubs me wrong, so here was someone willing to stand up and say that they lived the Lee lie and understood it to be just that. Do I believe that this book will change minds? Maybe, but that mind has to be open to the notion. For certain, this book carries the weight of a professional historian and soldier which should tip the scales for some in most regards. This is no blog post. This is a well-researched attack on white supremacy and its acolytes through the eyes of someone who emerged from under its shadowy insistence. Why only 4 stars? I feel like Seidule spent a fair portion of the book dealing with the problems of the South and with segregation which is extremely important, but did not adhere to the premise of Robert E. Lee and Seidule’s understanding of the complicity to revere Lee. But even those parts of the book are valid and do much to dismantle the lies that white supremacy uses to soften their image.
Still, one of the most damning segments against the book’s ability to effect change comes from Seidule himself in the introduction: ‘Nothing I could say would refute his upbringing, his feelings, and his history. Then I realized evidence didn’t matter; he had chose his own facts based on his culture. Despite the overwhelming evidence historians have gathered and my own passion to explain the cause of the Civil War and the violent segregation that followed it, I could convince no one.’
I was pleased to have come across this book because I’ve never been convinced of Robert E. Lee’s greatness, though I certainly grew up with several of the myths surrounding the ‘Lost Cause’ that Seidule covers in his book. My opinion has always been that blue beats gray and that slavery is horrifying, so I never fell under the sway of the states’ rights argument. However, I have friends who are Lee apologists and that rubs me wrong, so here was someone willing to stand up and say that they lived the Lee lie and understood it to be just that. Do I believe that this book will change minds? Maybe, but that mind has to be open to the notion. For certain, this book carries the weight of a professional historian and soldier which should tip the scales for some in most regards. This is no blog post. This is a well-researched attack on white supremacy and its acolytes through the eyes of someone who emerged from under its shadowy insistence. Why only 4 stars? I feel like Seidule spent a fair portion of the book dealing with the problems of the South and with segregation which is extremely important, but did not adhere to the premise of Robert E. Lee and Seidule’s understanding of the complicity to revere Lee. But even those parts of the book are valid and do much to dismantle the lies that white supremacy uses to soften their image.
Still, one of the most damning segments against the book’s ability to effect change comes from Seidule himself in the introduction: ‘Nothing I could say would refute his upbringing, his feelings, and his history. Then I realized evidence didn’t matter; he had chose his own facts based on his culture. Despite the overwhelming evidence historians have gathered and my own passion to explain the cause of the Civil War and the violent segregation that followed it, I could convince no one.’