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Lessons in virtue

Robert E Lee is remembered as a great military strategist, a leader of men, and a man of honour, but primarily as the leader of the losing Confederate side in the American Civil War. The story of his life is told by John Perry in his book Lee: A Life of Virtue. The author states that, although slavery is often regarded as the key issue of the American Civil War, Robert E Lee in fact made it clear that he was personally against the institution of slavery.

Lee was also against the idea of a war which pitted American against American, neighbour against neighbour and brother against brother, but he found himself thrust into a position where he had to chose between loyalty to his State, Virginia, and loyalty to the United States. He decided that loyalty to his State was the higher value, and when Virginia joined the Confederacy he became the General in charge of the Confederate army.

Rather than concentrating on military strategy, the book concentrates on Lee’s character and personal philosophy. Many of Lee’s attitudes and decisions seem wrong from a distance of 150 years in the light of modern moral standards, but in another 150 years the moral standards of today will also seem wrong. There is much that we can learn from Lee about treating people with respect, acting with humility, maintaining dignity, and suffering injury without seeking revenge, especially in view of the horrific nature of the carnage that occurred during the war.

While the book is not as engrossing as a novel, the story of Lee’s life is presented in an interesting manner. The numerous quotations from the personal correspondence of Lee and others demonstrate the depth of careful research that the author has undertaken. However, at times the author seems to be over-identifying with his subject and telling only one side of the Civil War story. Nonetheless, this is a book which contains many useful lessons, and I recommend it.

Disclosure: I received my copy of the book for free from BookSneeze.