ROBERT E. LEE: The Complete Man 1861-1871

Robert E. Lee's place in history is that of a great soldier and a Christian gentleman in the widest sense of that term: self-control was second nature to him. Margaret Sanborn's biography, while of chronological necessity paying lip-service to Lee the soldier, anatomizes Lee the Christian gentleman. Her title means what it says. The book is a study of the inner man, a biography in which the events of history, unfortunately, seem almost to intrude upon our sharing the dull interactions of Lee and his sisters and cousins and his aunts. This, one supposes, is ""vital"" biography-- the personages talk, weep, sigh, and laugh. The grim realities of Matthew Brady's photographs, however, are lacking. While biographical intimacy is not without its interest, do not look here for a critical appraisal of Lee's place in history. With this second volume, Mrs. Sanborn's apotheosis of Lee is complete. It remains no threat to Douglas Southall Freeman's monumental biography.