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Robert E Lee & Me A Southerners Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause

by Ty Seidule
Robert E Lee & Me A Southerners Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause

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ISBN13: 9781250239266
ISBN10: 1250239265
Condition: Like New


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Synopsis

In a forceful but humane narrative, former soldier and head of the West Point history department Ty Seidule's Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the myths and lies of the Confederate legacy--and explores why some of this country's oldest wounds have never healed.

Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service in the U.S. Army, every part of his life reinforced the Lost Cause myth: that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived, and that the Confederates were underdogs who lost the Civil War with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier general and Professor Emeritus of History at West Point, his view has radically changed. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, Ty Seidule believes that American history demands a reckoning.


In a unique blend of history and reflection, Seidule deconstructs the truth about the Confederacy--that its undisputed primary goal was the subjugation and enslavement of Black Americans--and directly challenges the idea of honoring those who labored to preserve that system and committed treason in their failed attempt to achieve it. Through the arc of Seidule's own life, as well as the culture that formed him, he seeks a path to understanding why the facts of the Civil War have remained buried beneath layers of myth and even outright lies--and how they embody a cultural gulf that separates millions of Americans to this day.


Part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the deeply-held legends and myths of the Confederacy--and provides a surprising interpretation of essential truths that our country still has a difficult time articulating and accepting.

Synopsis

Ty Seidule scorches us with the truth and rivets us with his fierce sense of moral urgency. --Ron Chernow

In a forceful but humane narrative, former soldier and head of the West Point history department Ty Seidule's Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the myths and lies of the Confederate legacy--and explores why some of this country's oldest wounds have never healed.

Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service in the U.S. Army, every part of his life reinforced the Lost Cause myth: that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived, and that the Confederates were underdogs who lost the Civil War with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier general and Professor Emeritus of History at West Point, his view has radically changed. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, Ty Seidule believes that American history demands a reckoning.

In a unique blend of history and reflection, Seidule deconstructs the truth about the Confederacy--that its undisputed primary goal was the subjugation and enslavement of Black Americans--and directly challenges the idea of honoring those who labored to preserve that system and committed treason in their failed attempt to achieve it. Through the arc of Seidule's own life, as well as the culture that formed him, he seeks a path to understanding why the facts of the Civil War have remained buried beneath layers of myth and even outright lies--and how they embody a cultural gulf that separates millions of Americans to this day.

Part history lecture, part meditation on the Civil War and its fallout, and part memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the deeply-held legends and myths of the Confederacy--and provides a surprising interpretation of essential truths that our country still has a difficult time articulating and accepting.


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`
David Britton , March 02, 2021 (view all comments by David Britton)
I'll be honest - I expected more of a "military history" here. After all, Col. Seidule teaches history at West Point. He teaches Civil War battles, leads his cadets on tours of the battlefields. When he wants to, he can boil the chaos of Gettysburg down to a one-page explanation of what happened that makes sense of everything (which he does here). So yeah, I was hoping for more of a puncturing of Lee's supposedly flawless generalship. What Seidule has given us, however, is so much more. I always assumed the "lost cause" myth - which is something many of us in the North grew up with as well - merely held that the South "should" have won the Civil War because it fought better, but was ultimately defeated by superior manpower and resources. But the myth goes much deeper than that, and it explains many things that Americans are debating right now: Confederate monuments, why they were built, why the violent resistance to their removal under the specious argument of "changing history," US Army installations in the South named after Confederate generals, etc. The truth is, the "lost cause" myth is not just a belief that the South fought a better war militarily - the "lost cause" maintains that the South was right, morally right, and the North wrong. Seidule, a Southerner born and bred, grew up with the myth, and I think he kind of feels lied to. No matter - he has the facts, and will set you straight.

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`
Old Raider , February 15, 2021
Brigadier General Ty Seidule served 36 years in the US Army, including 20 as a Professor of History at the US Military Academy. His personal journey and life’s work, gives him great credibility on this topic. Is he passionate and opinionated? Absolutely. He admits that. But his writing is incisive, his research impeccable and his thesis is documented in detail. Some will “review” the book without ever actually reading it because they are offended from the onset. Yet for me, his work isn’t about being politically correct, woke or revisionist. It’s about getting it right so we can move forward. Hooah, sir!

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Product Details

ISBN:
9781250239266
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
01/26/2021
Publisher:
ST MARTINS PRESS
Pages:
304
Height:
1.30IN
Width:
5.40IN
Author:
Ty Seidule

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List Price:$27.99
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