How I wish I'd had such a readable text when I was raising my children! I've not seen anything on this vital topic that is nearly as practical or of such breadth as trhis very readable book. A great bonus for parents!

Robert E. Lee is still considered one of the greatest military leaders in American history, which is rather ironic since he achieved his successes on battlefields against Federal troops. In this juvenile biography, Patricia A. Grabowski explains how this fine young man became a gentleman soldier, appointed to West Point by President Andrew Jackson. She does a nice job of setting up Lee's difficult decision to resign from the Army when his state of Virginia seceded from the Union and showing how Lee came to be put in the position of leading the armies of the Confederacy. The attempts to explain the strategic and tactical brilliance of Lee, as well as his fatal error at Gettysburg, are less successful, but Grabowski does make an effort. However, what we have here is definitely a solid introductory biography for young readers interested in Lee and the Civil War.

This book is illustrated mostly with historical paintings (many of which you will see in other volumes in the Famous Figures of the Civil War Era series), as well as some contemporary photographs of a few Lee related sites. Sidebars provided some additional details on Lee's life and the events covered. As always, the fact that these books insist on calling their subjects by their first name continues to nag at me. Marse Robert I could accept, but calling Lee "Robert" the entire book just sounds strange. Sorry.