What do you think?
Rate this book
Step-Up Books
Meet Robert E. Lee.
Meet ROBERT E. LEE is the story of a great American leader forced to make a terrible decision. Robert E. Lee the Virginian, son of a Revolutionary hero, served in the U.S. Army as America moved towards Civil War. Loving his country, he hated to see the Union split, but he could not fight against the South. His agonizing decision, his brilliant military leadership, and the fine example he set when the battle was done, are all recounted in this thoroughly researched and richly illustrated book.
Hardcover
First published May 28, 1969
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 25, 2021
I loved this book as a kid. It was the first chapter book I learned to read on my own, and it was about a Civil War hero! I was born while the Civil War Centennial was ongoing, so some of my earliest toys were Plastic Civil War play sets. My dad was a Civil War buff who took his family to battlefields on vacation. Little wonder, then, that I was a kid obsessed with the romance of the Civil War.
As a kid, it didn’t seem strange to me that I got this book about a Confederate General on a visit to Gettysburg, one of the great Union victories of the war. (There were no children’s books about the Union heroes of that battle, like Chamberlain or Hancock.) It didn’t strike me as odd that though I came from a Northern family with ancestors that fought the Confederacy and a father whose hero was Abraham Lincoln that I was encouraged to venerate a man who broke his sworn oath to his country (my country) and took up arms against it. None of this seemed odd because at that time nearly the whole country had been taught the Southern myth of The Lost Cause as if it were actual history. And Lee, the perfect Southern Christian Gentleman, was the cornerstone, the holy saint of that myth. It was taught at all levels of education, and this book that I loved was in reality introductory propaganda of that myth for young children.
As an adult, I continued to study the war, and discovered the ugly history behind the moonlight and magnolia myths that I had learned as a child. I came to see Robert E. Lee much differently than how he was presented in this book, no longer as the perfect soldier and gentleman forced to make an agonizing choice, but as a man who broke his oath and became a traitor to his country, responsible for killing more American soldiers than any other general in history.
As my minister father might have said, “when I was a child, I thought as a child, but having become a man, I put away childish things.” I recommend putting aside this book with the rest of Lost Cause mythology.
As a kid, it didn’t seem strange to me that I got this book about a Confederate General on a visit to Gettysburg, one of the great Union victories of the war. (There were no children’s books about the Union heroes of that battle, like Chamberlain or Hancock.) It didn’t strike me as odd that though I came from a Northern family with ancestors that fought the Confederacy and a father whose hero was Abraham Lincoln that I was encouraged to venerate a man who broke his sworn oath to his country (my country) and took up arms against it. None of this seemed odd because at that time nearly the whole country had been taught the Southern myth of The Lost Cause as if it were actual history. And Lee, the perfect Southern Christian Gentleman, was the cornerstone, the holy saint of that myth. It was taught at all levels of education, and this book that I loved was in reality introductory propaganda of that myth for young children.
As an adult, I continued to study the war, and discovered the ugly history behind the moonlight and magnolia myths that I had learned as a child. I came to see Robert E. Lee much differently than how he was presented in this book, no longer as the perfect soldier and gentleman forced to make an agonizing choice, but as a man who broke his oath and became a traitor to his country, responsible for killing more American soldiers than any other general in history.
As my minister father might have said, “when I was a child, I thought as a child, but having become a man, I put away childish things.” I recommend putting aside this book with the rest of Lost Cause mythology.
August 20, 2020
Paints a simple but nuanced picture of the man, including details of his notable father. Overall, it is a good introduction that does not equivocate or rationalize about the wrong of slavery. We get some sense of the personal conflict that Lee found himself presented with as the South seceded (that word, incidentally, never appears - the vocabulary is simple and clear). As one might expect, the Civil War is given a good part of the whole, but we learn important facts about Lee's antebellum activities at West Point, in the Mexican War, and at Harper's Ferry. There is a bit of information about his post-war life and career, but not much. While the text is excellent, the illustrations are unfortunately rather mediocre.
December 8, 2019
Very elementary book on R. E. Lee. It goes into the most detail with the Civil War.
Large print, short, short sentences with controlled vocabulary. Illustrations are attractive and appropriate.
Large print, short, short sentences with controlled vocabulary. Illustrations are attractive and appropriate.
April 30, 2015
Meet Robert E. Lee--spawned by the epic war which pitted brother against brother. This book portrays the events which cemented one man into the annals of history.
This was one of the first books I read in my childhood and its vivid imagery still linger in my memory to this day. The story of this hated and beloved, controversial figure are told in an unbiased portrayal of this Civil War icon.
From terrific events, whether horrible or great, wonderful stories are born.
This was one of the first books I read in my childhood and its vivid imagery still linger in my memory to this day. The story of this hated and beloved, controversial figure are told in an unbiased portrayal of this Civil War icon.
From terrific events, whether horrible or great, wonderful stories are born.
April 22, 2017
Meet Robert E. Lee—spawned by the epic war which pitted brother against brother. This book portrays the events which cemented one man into the annals of history.
This was one of the first books I read in my childhood and its vivid imagery still linger in my memory to this day. The story of this hated and beloved, controversial figure are told in an unbiased portrayal of this Civil War icon.
From terrific events, whether horrible or great, wonderful stories are born.
This was one of the first books I read in my childhood and its vivid imagery still linger in my memory to this day. The story of this hated and beloved, controversial figure are told in an unbiased portrayal of this Civil War icon.
From terrific events, whether horrible or great, wonderful stories are born.
August 24, 2014
I loved it. He went to Westpoint for one reason. He wanted to be a general and the other reason is they were poor. But if you go to Westpoint, it's free. He served in the Mexican War and his brother was also in the army and when he had time he would go help him at the cannons.
January 13, 2013
Something to give your family's little historian.
August 24, 2014
I Liked it
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews