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A review by jbmorgan86
Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause by Ty Seidule
4.0
”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.