First of all, I am surprised no one has bothered to review this book! I used it in a seminar on the American Civil War at the Japanese university where I teach English and history. It was excellent as an introduction to the subject matter it describes. The chapters were not dauntingly long and Thomas's gift for language presented an abundance of ideas and episodes with a striking economy of words. My students, who are not native speakers of English, were very satisfied with the book and had a sense of accomplishment once they got through it. A Japanese language version of Ken Burns's celebrated documentary on the Civil War was helpful in making much of the book understood; but even without that useful aid, Emory Thomas's book offered a gripping narrative of the Confederacy's short and turbulent history. Having read Confederate Nation my students have a firm and intelligent grasp of the single most tumultuous episode of the American experience.

Okay, so I know the editor and all... so I'm biased. I'm a moderate student of the Civil War, but I found this to be a really refreshing way to study the War--through political cartoons. Cartoons of that era seem so much more complicated and intricate that they do today. I learned a lot that I didn't already know, and in a very enjoyable way.

This is a comprehensive and authoritative regimental history, and really sets the standard for this genre. What I like most about it, since I research Canadians who served in the Civil War, was the detailed regimental roster that the authors compiled. Unfortunately, this book is out of print and may be difficult and/or costly to track down, but should you get your hands on a copy, you will not be disappointed.

This is a small book about the author's visits to several war sites throughout the country. He writes as an authority on the CW but also as a common history loving travelor who gets an extra feel for history by actually visiting the sites. His description of the battle of Shiloh on what is described today as golf course cared for lawn along with a haunting synopsis of the battle which includes the brutally high number of casualties gives the reader a true feeling of what its like to visit this virtual shrine of the western theater. In addition, to some of the seriousness of the book the author injects humor at sites that are historical but much smaller in scale and regretfully less preserved. My favorite description is of the battle of Roanoke Island in N.C. just west of Nags Head. An excellent description of how General Wise's confederate forces were not only no match for the Burnside led amphibious attack but that the Confederates fortified the fort on the wrong end of the Island. The forts were on the north end while the south was the vulnerable end that was attacked. Thomas notes with some whimsy that the key portion of the land battle is left to your imagination as a the remains of the small earth work is only partially there but the road is flanked by swamp essentially preserving the site. The forts on the north end are now under water. Its a site worth a visit but amusing because so little remains of the battle. Its the type of book best appreciated by those that like to visit historical sites and have the ability to appreciate the lay of the land with attempts to ignore gas stations that are now on battlefield ground. Thomas is a nice contrast to the former expert on the Little Big Horn Graham who in spite of his excellent data collection never visited the site even when he actually had a chance. A great book to relax to for those that love wandering the fields.

This is an excellent biography, one which not only collects facts about its subject's life but perceptively and sympathetically portrays him as a human being. I would consider it far better than any other Stuart biography I have read. It succeeds magnificently in putting Stuart in a military context and in placing him within the mentalities and ideals of his time.

However, I think that Thomas sometimes overanalyzes, and sometimes relies too much on single sources. Broader evidence, for example, doesn't necessarily support the idea that Stuart kept Hagan around just as a freak. And one bit of data weighted rather heavily by Thomas came exclusively from the captured diary of the tactless Price. Occasionally I felt that Thomas protested too much, wanting all of his evidence to fit his picture of Stuart, when alternative explanations might have been possible.

An occasional "Then did..." construction melds a bit jarringly with Thomas' overall straightforward prose.

An excellent biography, however, one which transcends the factual and becomes genuinely moving.

A delightful bio of Stuart dealing with his early years, West Point, John Brown's rebellion, his relationship with women and of course the Civil War. Stuart the virtual romantic knight who enjoyed the role and traveled like a characer from Robin Hood with a banjo playing musician and a sect of followers that almost mirrors Custer's post Civil War band and family of followers. Besides Stuart himself, he has a fascinating collection of subordinate such as the Prussian Heroes Von Brocke, Fitz Lee, Rooney Lee, Wade Hampton, Grumble Jones (not his favorite) and Thomas Rosser who was a great friend of Custer's who never got the star he sought. As his legend develops it seems that Stuart became caught up with it particularly by the time of Brandy Station where the day after an elaborate parade showing of his calavry units for Lee he is shocked by aggressive and highly succesful attacks by the transformed union calvary. This may have led to Stuart's desire for a sensational trip around he Union army talking himself out of the picture at the battle of Gettysburg. At the end, Sheridan's forces seem to exhaust Stuart's calvary due to shortages of horses and the addition of repeaters.

Fascinating description of the seeming vain yet outging Stuart sparking a unique friendship with the religious and stern Jackson.

In the end, it seems that Stuart, the seemingly last cavalier, is undone by the modern use of calvary signifying the change in warfare and the abrupt decline of the confederacy.

THIS A VERY GOOD BOOK ON A MUCH EXAMINED AMERICAN HERO AND LEGEND. HE HAS DONE A MASTERFUL JOB IN RESEARCHING HIS SUBJECT.
I HAVE NOT SEEN A STUDY RESEARCHED AS DEEPLY AS THIS ONE. HE HAS
UNCOVERED MANY INTERESTING DETAILS NO OTHER WRITER AS BEEN ABLE
TO ACHIEVE. I RECOMMEND ALL EMORY THOMAS'S BOOKS FOR THE READER
WHO IS TRULY INTERESTED IN HIS SUBJECTS.

This is a book of photographs about Robert E. Lee, and features photos not only of Lee but of the people, places, and events that were important in his life. The book has some commentary on the photos, but the focus is the photographs, not the text. The book is designed to complement Thomas' biography of Lee. As a stand-alone book, it provides a brief overview of Lee's life.

Without a doubt I have been a diehard fan of Emory Thomas since I attended one of his guest lectures promoting the highly acclaimed biography on the man and soldier Robert E. Lee. His words on the death of LEE were most memorable.

His recent pictorial essay embodied in this new publication chroniclizes Lee throughout his lifetime in vintage photographs. When I met Lee's great grand daughter Anne Carter Zimmer, I realized that some rather poignant pictures existed, but this book supports the fact.

This book should be purchased as a bedtime companion to Thomas's brilliant biography of the icon we know as Lee. The layout and selection of photographs in this publication truly satisfy one's soul in meditative reflection. Don't miss.

I set off for a trip to Richmond, VA last year confident that I could pick up a copy of this useful little book while there.

I was astonished to find that I couldn't buy a copy in any of the downtown bookstores or museum shops. How I would have loved to have had this history and guide with me to make me fully aware of how each place I visited was connected to some stirring or painful act of our great national tragedy.

This book is a fine companion piece to Margaret Leech's wonderful "Reveille in Washington".

Emory Thompson has written a remarkably interesting and able history and one that no visitor to Richmond should be without.

This is a contemporary source, a mixed bag of character sketches, fictionalized real events, and historical bits. Cooke isn't great on exact accuracy of dates and events, but he captures a certain mentality well. If you want the Virginian-plume-wearing-chivalry Thing, you'd better read this book. And he is entertaining, if turgid -- the character sketches of people like Stuart and Farley the Scout are the best parts, I think. A brief chapter on the siege of Petersburg stands out as well. The book does give a good idea of what scouts and detached cavalry units did, which I found useful.

Thickly styled though much of this is to a modern eye (and perhaps a contemporary one, since Stuart himself apparently considered Cooke "a crashing bore", though he was too tactful to let on), it's still really a classic of the period. It represents a certain facet of Civil War mentality, and people interested in the period should certainly look at it.

Professor Thomas has written a compelling and highly readable biography of an increasingly controversial figure. We are now told that to esteem the memory of General Lee is somehow to honor slavery and man's inhumanity to man. Professor Thomas provides us with a welcome antidote to this deconstructionist thinking. The author gives us a portrait of a man who was thoroughly human. Possessing great faults but also possessing real character. I would lay only two faults to the book; First, the author's rather tiresome attempts at psychoanalysis, attempting to explain Lee's entire life in terms of difficult personal relationships. Secondly , it is obvious that Professor Thomas is not a military historian and he gives only a general analysis of Lee's strategic vision and his military career generally. Also I found his criticism of James Longstreet to be just a little over the line. Nonetheless this is an excellent biography and I highly reccomend it.

Thomas has given us a post-revisionist portrait of Lee that addresses the general as a human being much better than it presents him as a brilliant military strategist. His complicated relationship with his rakish father, his sainted mother, his demanding wife, and his children are all central foci of the book; his relationships with those outside his family get relatively short shrift. It is amazing how little of this book deals with the actual history of Lee's Civil War battles; more attention seems to be given to his involvement in the Mexican War. Indeed, the book seems to give disproportionate attention to his life prior to the Civil War, with relatively lesser attention to what happened after he became commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia. Since the latter period is that in which he made his mark on history, this focus is rather disappointing. But Thomas does a relatively able job of dispelling the image of Lee as "the marble man," and for that, Civil War afficionados owe him a debt of gratitude.

Emory Thomas is ambitious but ultimately correct in proclaiming his compelling Lee biography a post-revisionist portrait. He attempts (with admirable success) to balance his respect for Lee's character and ability (without Douglas Freeman's blatant worship and apocryphal stories) with honest accounts of his faults and contradictions (minus the carping of Connelly's 'The Marble Man' and Nolan's 'Lee Considered'). In the process, Thomas has captured as much as any writer is able the humanness of Lee. I was struck throughout the book by events and words that mirror my own aspirations and failures. I think the highest praise I can offer Thomas's book is that this avid Lee fan and Civil War buff felt like he had met Robert E. Lee for the first time