About the Author

Alan T. Nolan, an Indianapolis lawyer, is author of The Iron Brigade, a military history, and As Sounding Brass, a novel.

Reviews

"Any future author dealing with Lee will have to face up to Nolan's material and we will all be the better for it."--"Washington Post"

"General readers as well as Civil War buffs will enjoy serving as the jury for Mr. Nolan's case, evaluating the documents and incidents he presents as evidence for his conclusions. His argument is a persuasive one, artfully fashioned to stimulate the critical assessment he seeks."--"New York Times Book Review"

"Nolan dethrones the myth of 'the Marble Man' with meticulous research."--"New Republic"

"Nolan doesn't question Lee's undeniable greatness. [He] subjects the sources to brutal cross examinations. . . . His purpose is to place Lee within his proper historical context. . . . Nolan asks the right questions about Lee, especially his generalship."--Peter S. Carmichael, "Civil War Times"

"This book will change our perception of the South's premier icon. With a deft pen and a sure grasp of the essential questions, Alan Nolan separates the Lee of reality from the Lee of mythology. No student of the Civil War can afford to ignore the challenging and controversial conclusions of this study."--James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Era of the Civil War"

Marching in the tracks of such historians as Bruce Catton, Thomas Connelly, and T. Harry Williams, Nolan tries to unhorse the mythic Lee. In pointing out the contradictions between the legend and the man, Nolan shows that Lee the slaveholder was not antislavery, that the reluctant secessionist endorsed Southern independence, that the general lost the war by his repeated offensive thrusts and provincial vision--and more. Lawyer Nolan's brief challenges all the commonplaces by insisting that we look at the record rather than the legend in viewing the man, and through him, the war itself. Nolan's debunking is less original than he claims, and his own reading of Lee is somewhat idiosyncratic. But he makes a forceful case for rethinking Lee and all the myths his memory has draped over the Lost Cause. A provocative book, highly recommended for university and major public libraries.-- Randall Miller, St. Jo seph's Univ., Philadelphia

"Any future author dealing with Lee will have to face up to Nolan's material and we will all be the better for it."--"Washington Post"
"General readers as well as Civil War buffs will enjoy serving as the jury for Mr. Nolan's case, evaluating the documents and incidents he presents as evidence for his conclusions. His argument is a persuasive one, artfully fashioned to stimulate the critical assessment he seeks."--"New York Times Book Review"
"Nolan dethrones the myth of 'the Marble Man' with meticulous research."--"New Republic"
"Nolan doesn't question Lee's undeniable greatness. [He] subjects the sources to brutal cross examinations. . . . His purpose is to place Lee within his proper historical context. . . . Nolan asks the right questions about Lee, especially his generalship."--Peter S. Carmichael, "Civil War Times"
"This book will change our perception of the South's premier icon. With a deft pen and a sure grasp of the essential questions, Alan Nolan separates the Lee of reality from the Lee of mythology. No student of the Civil War can afford to ignore the challenging and controversial conclusions of this study."--James M. McPherson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Era of the Civil War"