One of the most impressive monuments to an American military hero is found in Richmond, Virginia. Weighing twelve tons and standing almost sixty-two feet high, this great marble statue depicts General Robert E Lee on horseback. It projects an air of defiance as well as celebration, implying that, despite the tragic outcome of the Civil War for the South, this general was not defeated. By the time this monumental icon was unveiled in 1890, twenty years after Lee's death, the apotheosis of the great Confederate leader's life and career was well underway. He came to symbolise the great lost cause - the unfulfilled, idealised achievements that were central to the romanticised imagery that quickly enveloped the Old South after the war.In this in-depth examination of the career of General Robert E Lee, noted historian Brian Holden Reid looks beyond the legend to arrive at an objective assessment of the man and his military career. Holden Reid argues that Lee's qualities as a general do not require any exaggeration or embellishment. Tracing the military campaigns of the Civil War, he shows that Lee's short period of field command, just under three years, was marked by imagination, decisiveness, stamina, and a determination to win the war against the better-equipped union army, rather than just avoid losing it. Some historians have criticised Lee's offensive strategy as an error that became ultimately self-defeating.By contrast, Holden Reid asserts that it was the only realistic way for the Confederacy to win its independence. Nonetheless, he acknowledges that Lee exhibited occasional overconfidence, sometimes underestimated his enemy, and failed to develop his staff in any modern sense. As a British historian, Holden Reid brings a fresh, detached eye to his evaluation of General Lee, and in the end he presents an authoritative and balanced assessment of a great American commander. Marked by clarity of style and filled with fascinating historical details, this new reconsideration of a legendary southern general will be a welcome addition to the bookshelves of Civil War enthusiasts as well as students and scholars of American history and military history. -book cover.

Originally published: London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005.

"A monument to his glorious memory" -- Military apprenticeship, 1807-61 -- Quiet emergence, April 1861-June 1862 -- Fortunes transformed, June-July 1862 -- Apogee, July-September 1862 -- Resurgent again, October 1862-May 1863 -- Fateful climax, June-July 1863 -- Acme of defensive skill, August 1863-June 1864 -- Slow disintegration, June 1864-April 1865 -- The reckoning.