Robert E. Lee: Virginian Soldier, American Citizen

Book Description

To some, Robert E. Lee is a beloved general, held in the highest regard. To others, he is one of history's most paradoxical heroes. He fought passionately to defend his homeland and was one of the nation's greatest soldiers, yet his name is often inextricably linked with slavery and secession.

In 1861 Lee was Lincoln's first choice to lead the Union troops in the Civil War. But a strong loyalty to Virginia held Lee back. Instead he chose to become the commanding officer of the Confederacy. Lee had great success in battle by spitting his forces and unleashing suprise attacks. His victory at Chancellorville, where his troops soundly defeated an enemy twice their size, remains the most astonishing.

However, only when he surrendered in 1865 did the nation understand the kind of man Robert E. Lee truly was. He was kind and loving, giving all of himself to a reconciliation between the North and the South. In this meticulously researched biography, James I. Robertson explores the life of one of the most revered -- and misunderstood -- Civil War Generals.

Customer Reviews:

I have read this book..........2007-01-22

and heard the author speak today at the 200th anniversary of Robert E Lee's birthday. What hero worship? What aggrandizing? Robert E Lee, himself, would have blushed! James I. Robertson is more of a minister than a historian... his religion is Lee, his analysis is flawed. Lee was not raised by Washington, George was dead in his grave 8 years before Robert E. Lee was even born. Lee was a reaction. A reaction to his father, Harry 'Light-Horse' Lee; a fabuluous military man in his own right, with a penchant to trust too much; especially, George Washington, who advised him on property speculations, which ultimately left Harry Lee broke. Harry, like Washington was a Federalist, a believer of a strong central government. Robert was taught to despise his father, by anti-federalists, who couldn't stand the idea of "America," were threatened by it, and were ultimately destroyed... a confederacy of weakness against a Nation of strength. ( See: Light-Horse Harry Lee and the Legacy of the American Revolution (Paperback) by Charles Royster if you want to read the facts)

A solid intermediate biography of Robert E. Lee for younger readers.......2006-05-16

There are a couple of interesting things about the cover of this juvenile biography of Robert E. Lee. First, the complete title of the book is "Robert E. Lee: Virginian Solider, American Citizen," and the sub-title James I. Robertson, Jr. picked set up an ironic juxtaposition. Because Lee considered Virginia to be his country, rather than the United States of America, he turned down President Abraham Lincoln's offer to become the commander of the Union armies, choosing instead to side with Virginia and the Confederate cause. Consequently, Lee's fame as a solider was in part because he decided he was more of a Virginian than he was an American. There is the additional irony that at the end of his life, after the Civil War, when he was no longer a soldier, he was not exactly considered an "American citizen" by the North. The painting of Lee that appears on the cover shows him in the dress uniform of a lieutenant of the engineers in the U.S. Army, when he was in his mid-twenties, several decades before he made his fateful decision. So the cover does take a step or two back from the picture we have of Robert E. Lee as the commanding general of the Army of Northern Virginia.

The paradox of Lee is that we consider him to be our greatest military commander even though he was on the losing side of the Civil War. The only other general from the "other" side that I can think of who has anything close to that level of respect would have to be Germany's Erwin Rommell from World War II, whose Afrika Corps had a reputation comparable to that of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. We tend to think of such men as existing independent of the ideologies of the nation's for whom they were fighting. Robertson deals up front with that idea, noting that on the one hand Lee is a beloved general, held in the highest regard to such an extent that he has practically become an American saint, while on the other his name is inextricably linked with the issues of secession and slavery associated with the Southern Confederacy. Robertson's introduction begins by touching on Lee's greatest military triumph at the Battle of Chancellorsville, where he defeated a Union army twice his size by dividing his smaller force in two, but most of the focus is on the Lee legend that exists today.

Eight of the ten chapters in this book focus on Lee during the Civil War: (1) The Making of a Soldier covers how the son of "Light Horse Harry" Lee graduated second in his West Point class of 1829, married Mary Anne Randolph Custis, and served with distinction during the Mexican War in what proves to be the chapter's longest section. (2) Nation Versus Country begins with Lee being appointed superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy and his confirmation in the Episcopal faith, and ends with his wife inheriting the Custis estates in Arlington, his role in the capture of John Brown at Harper's Ferry, and his resignation from the U.S. Army on the eve of the Civil War. (3) Rocky Path to Army Command is one of the most interesting chapters because it reminds us that Lee did not start off the war as a commander, but rather as President Jefferson Davis' confidential military adviser. It was not until June 1862 that Lee was place in command of troops, with low expectations exemplified by his nicknames as "Evacuation Lee" and "Granny Lee."

The Lee that history remembers emerges in the next chapters. (4) Brilliance in the Field shows how Lee bested General George B. McClellan, the overly cautious commander of the Union's Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days' Campaign, and his replacement John Pope at the Second Battle of Manassas (a.k.a. Bull Run, but I go with the belief the winning side gets to name the battle). Robertson underscores the importance of General "Stonewall" Jackson to Lee's successes. (5) The Bloodiest Day is about Lee's first invasion of the North and the Battle of Antietem (a.k.a. Sharpsburg), and the slaughter of Union troops at the Battle of Fredericksburg. (6) Loss of an Arm contrasts Lee's greatest military achievement at the Battle of Chancellorsville with the devastating loss of Jackson. (7) Gettysburg explains Lee's desperate gamble in invading the North a second time, focusing on how he came to order Pickett's Charge, his biggest military mistake.

The next two chapters play out the end of the war, as Lee once again becomes the "King of Spades." (8) Forced on the Defensive looks at how General Ulysses S. Grant forced Lee's army to move backwards to protect Richmond. (9) From Siege to Defeat begins with Lee's entrenchments along the Richmond-Petersburg line and ends with the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House when Lee's starving troops were surrounded by several Union armies. (10) National Symbol is the final chapter, which details what Lee did after the Civil War in becoming the president of what was then Washington College and what is now Washington and Lee University, and covers how his death in 1870 brought on national mourning.

This is a solid intermediate biography of Lee for younger readers, which goes to pains to explain the major battles he fought during the Civil War. The book is illustrated with dozens of black and white etchings and photographs from throughout Lee's life. Robertson also wrote a similar biography, "Standing Like a Stone Wall: The Life of General Thomas J. Jackson," which would certainly provide a nice complement to this volume (Robertson also has written an adult biography of Jackson, "Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Solider, the Legend").

A Solid Biography Written for Younger Readers (12 and up).......2006-03-17

Part of the books for young readers put out by this publisher, this is a fairly short and not filled with complexity. Having said that, this is also a very well researched, very well written biography of General Lee. It is profusely illustrated, particularly the Civil War years which generated a lot of photographs.

All in all, this is an excellent short biography. I recommend it for not only young readers (Grades 6 up) but for anyone wanting a fairly quick biography that captures the essese of the mas as well as books several times this one's size.

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The Virginian, Oh What a Man!
The Virginian
The Virginian
Wister used "Virginian" to elaborate fundamental human truths
"The Virginian" established the fictional code of the West.

The Virginian (Signet Classics)
Owen Wister
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451528328

Book Description

Owen Wister's powerful story of the silent stranger who rides into the uncivilized West and defeats the forces of evil embodies one of the most enduring themes in American mythology.

Set in the vast Wyoming territory, The Virginian (1902) captures both the grandeur and the loneliness of the frontier experience, brilliantly evoking the tension between the romantic freedom of the great, untamed landscape and mankind's deep-seated desire for community and social order. Wister brings to life the honesty and rough justice that ruled the range and the civilizing influence of determined women in frontier settlements that imposed a sense of society on an unruly population.

For Wister, the West tested a man's true worth. His hero-influenced by those of Sir Walter Scott and James Fenimore Cooper-is a man who lives by the classic code of chivalry, ruled by quiet courage and a deeply felt sense of honor.

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Owen Wister's classic western shaped the entire "Western" genre

Customer Reviews:

The Virginian, Oh What a Man!.......2007-07-22

Wow, this was so good; I could not put it down. The Virginian is the most incredible, honest, honorable, handsome (sigh) hero to come along the pike in a long long time. And what a scamp, LOL at his plot to switch the babies (clothes and all) around, so that the parents took home the wrong kids, had to come back to the Judge's ranch, leaving Molly the new teacher alone for him to call on!

Lots of love, laughter and excitement as the Virginian falls for the new teacher from the East, rounds up cattle rustlers and vanquishes the bad guys. The author's prose was glorious, although rather dense (for lack of a better word); it reminded me of Nathaniel Hawthorne. You really have to pay attention and don't let your mind wander or you will end up backtracking so you don't miss any of the story. The author's descriptions of the Wyoming countryside, and most especially the Tetons, were wonderful and I felt like I was right there.

Truly one of the best yarns I have ever read, with a nail biting finish during the final showdown with the bad guy, as Molly has to reconcile herself as to what is more important, her east coast sense of righteousness or her love for her man. Highly recommended.

The Virginian.......2007-05-14

This classic Western is never out of date. I read it many years ago and wanted to read it again since I'm planning a Wyoming trip in July, returning to my home of many years. It brought back good memories and a true understanding of the morality and difficulties of the period.

The Virginian.......2007-03-16

A lone man from the eastern parts of the United States is in a strange and unusual land when he arrives in a small town called Medicine Bow, in the Wyoming Territory. In this hostile and lonely place, he meets a shady character, only known as the Virginian throughout the novel, who is there to take him to a friend named Henry, who happens to be a judge. Throughout the novel, the Virginian shows more and more of his behavior and his compassion, especially when he sees something that attracts his eye. A young schoolteacher from Vermont, Mary Wood, is saved by the Virginian when he grabs her from an overturned stagecoach that falls into a creek. The two steadily develop an interest for each other, until they fall completely in love. All things are not perfect in Medicine Bow, however, for it is still a Western town. Along with saloon fights and duels, the Virginian has a nemesis known as Trampas, a local cowhand. As there is no officer or deputy, the now infuriated Virginian takes matters into his own hands, silencing Trampas once and for all and capturing his one true love. The Virginian, written by Owen Wister, is an excting historical-fiction novel because of three main points: its excellent historical descriptions, its shocking action, and also because of its romance.

The Virginian is an excellent novel in its description of an old Western town and its people. Medicine Bow, in the Wyoming Territory, is a typical small village that has no authority. Because of that, fights are constantly breaking out in saloons, and people are always being murdered. However, being raised as a southern gentleman before the Civil War, the Virginian remains calm under constant pressure, until he finally snaps, and fights the cowhander, Trampas. This is just to prove that a small town such as Medicine Bow isn't the prime place to go to while on vacation.

Also, the action of this novel is another reason why it should be read. When the Virginian enters the Medicine Bow saloon for the first time, there was a point of conflict in the saloon where several people were seriously injured, partly due to the Virgianian. Although this excerpt of the novel was extemely intense, the final showdown between Trampas and the Virgianian is the most shocking with amazing results, in which the suspense will knock the reader off his or her feet.

Romance is the third key factor in why the Virginian, written by Owen Wister, should be read. In the beginning of the story, The Virginian is often described as a lonely person, who's seldom seen with anyone. However, after he rescues the damsal in distress from the overturned stagecoach, his luck begins to change. This goes the same way for Mary Wood, who is actually a bit embarrased over the incident in how frightful she was, clinging fiercely onto the Virginian's back. Even with this, they eventually become quite entangled at the end, proving that love triumphs over every obstacle.

Overall, the Virginian is a great historical fiction novel because of its accurate and adequate history, its great and stunning thrills, and because it is a great love story for all to read. Speaking of love, that's the most important reason why this book is different from most. It teaches a lesson that if you are compassionate to other people, other people will be compassionate to you. When the Virginian first picks up a visitor from the east, he doesn't know what to do with his life. Afterwards, however, he finds that life is worth living. I rate this novel five stars out of five.

A. Chappell

Wister used "Virginian" to elaborate fundamental human truths.......2006-04-30

VIRGINIAN -by Owen Wister ( first reviewed 30 April 2006)

Though "The Virginian" has a standing as a Western novel, it is philosophically rich, and Owen Wister used this novel to articulate certain fundamental truths. (I always find great clarification from older books, books written before TV, before Computers, and even before Radio. In these, one can still find clarification of values, that is not easily found in modern literature, when those who write books don't know the difference between "Come!" and "Go sic'em!" ) Wister's book is not just a "shoot'em-up". The reader needs to be aware of the depth of the philosophical arguments offered by his characters

(1)
the definition of a "gentleman" (in Chapter Two)

(2)
the conflict between GOOD (the Virginian) & EVIL (Trampas, the cowhand turned rustler and worse, corrupter of men, resulting in their destruction

(3)
the definition of "love" ; NOT the romantic love between the school teacher and the cowboy. Rather, it was the love the Virginian showed to his fellow cowhand, vulnerable to manipulation and deceit, in trying to shepherd the man's soul along the lines of the soul's deepest strengths (the Judge's hired hand who loved horses).

(4)
the definition of "spirituality"; Wister draws a stark contrast between the traveling preacher, who wears his religious "act" like a cheap black suit and poorly conceals his contempt of common men in his arrogance and superiority complex.
Moreover, Chapter Two demonstrates the essential requirement of HUMILITY that the Virginion manifests (a character trait utterly lacking in the minister).

(5)
the definition of "conflict": indeed, the entire book is about the very human fight at the very core of life. The Virginian demonstrates the singular truth, clear to anyone who actually engages life, that you cannot find an answer to life's conflict by simply turning away and riding out of town. There is no answer to life's problems in mere "conflict-avoidance", nor in folding our hands and practicing some NAMBY-PAMBY sentiment passing under the guise of LOVE.

When The Virginian beats the stuffing out of one of the most despicable of human beings (the abuser of horses) he demonstrates the timelessness of the truth, that good people must stand for something. Even today, deceit and lies have been popularized so that one often hears admonitions, suggesting that we should all practice, "NON-JUDGEMENT." That only bears out, if you choose to embrace ideological horse-flop as life's dearest treasure.

Some fights must be fought, though we do not enjoy them. The EVIL that Trampas represents, will not back down, in its mindlessness. Riding away simply turns over the reins of power to the embodiment of EVIL.

(6)
the definition of "humor": (I cannot spoil the story but...the CHICKEN, the DRUMMERS, the railroad ride after the cattle sale)
There are numerous accounts demonstrating how good people find humor at every chance, and who use humor and imagination to fight evil in everyday circumstances.

(7) DUTY: As Foreman of the Judge's ranch, the Virginian endures many slights and insults to his authority by a "top hand" or two. Not once does he inform the Judge of these difficulties. Why? Because performing his duty includes these things. It is his job; and the Virginian performs his duty as a worthy hand.

The Virginian was written by Wister to a deep purpose, so deep in fact, that I believe it was largely lost on the world. True, it was made into many movies, but even in these, even the great ones, the TRUTHS Wister elaborate in the book are vastly watered down. You cannot acquire Wister's purpose merely by watching a movie. You can only find them in the book.

The book, in the wording of an older era, may seem awkward, perhaps ...slow; but I suggest you think of it as a foray into another place, the Wyoming of a hundred years ago, with vast prairies of open sky, only rarely interrupted by a human dwelling, and more rarely still, by a town. Words then, were a relief from the prairie, which alternates from being vastness of eerie silence, punctuated by violence.

In certain ways, Wister eclipses Melville's "Moby Dick". He was not credited with being the literary giant that Melville enjoys in literary history, but in my opinion, he arrived at a deeper point, and quicker. Melville's characters are melodramatic and driven, often as not, by superstition and wild, incomprehensible urges. Wister's characters are driven by a more familiar greed, a more familiar goodness, a more familiar treachery, an everyday ordinariness, if you will.

When Melville gives his characters something to contend with, they must contend with the ultimate superwhale, Moby Dick, or, it is the strange obsessive madness of the captain. These are less often encountered by people generally, in any age. Wister's evil is not, like Melville's, the Arch-Evil of some cartoonish melodrama. Wister's evil is the cattle rustler, driven by personal selfishness, and a contempt for common values. In my opinion, there is more of a lesson for us in Wister's presentation of evil as more of an everyday, and an ordinary thing, in an ordinary humanity.

There is a foreshadowing in Wister's novel, of a theme exploited to great success by Louis L'Amour half a century later: the notion of a cowhand, who has vaguely ridden on the wrong side of the law. From the start, we become aware that the Virginian is not a "saint". He is a man molded by hard living in the American West. Somewhere on Life's road, a choice was made to care for people, and not merely to steal from others to advance self. Wister's rejection of EGO-CENTRISM as a basis for living is clear. Duty to principle is the honorable alternative.

****** The ACADEMICS and their perspectives on the Virginian*********

There have been some academics who have written prefaces, introductions, and essays about the Virginian, and their natty-brained intellectualizations frequently seem to dominate the public's understanding of the Western, and Wister's tale.

Here's where they go wrong. Writing from the concrete castles of academia, these academics are far removed from the realities of life, especially from the world Wister showed us. Academics operate in an abstract realm of ideas, where they assure themselves that human conflict (and even violence) are all a thing of the past, and that their wordy perambulations have encompassed all that is known of man. After all, they tell us with great bluster and probity that the cowboy and his myth have vanished. That may be so; but what has never changed in life is CONFLICT. It was not removed when TV was invented.

There are those who afford themselves the privilege of scoffing at defining good and evil. These are people who are not engaged in the struggle. They are the spectators in life, and that is why we must guard carefully to never let such tell us how we ought to think and act. Invariably, they will discourage all action.
by this philosophy, a cynical and skeptical view is proper, and inaction is the order of the day.

Wister's Virginian, shows where a man's duty lies, and how he ought to go about conducting himself in facing conflict. The cowboy may be gone, but human conflict is always with us.

Though literary critics advance Mark Twain or Nabokov or Melville or some such as authors of The Great American Novel, for me, it will always be The VIRGINIAN. --Bruce Bain

"The Virginian" established the fictional code of the West........2005-08-28

Owen Wister's "The Virginian," first published in 1902, is considered by many to exemplify the American Western novel. Wister certainly established the code of the West, and the stereotypical figures of the tough but genteel and courageous cowboy, (the one wearing the white hat and riding the white horse), the spinster schoolmarm from back East, horse rustlers, and the corrupt villain beyond redemption. In fact, the novel contains a scene constituting the first known "shootout" in American literature. Our narrator is an easterner, a man who visits Judge Henry, the Virginian's employer, at his ranch on Sunk Creek fairly frequently. I came to think of him as Mr. Wister himself, who did travel to Wyoming and parts West extensively.

From my perspective, the Virginian, whose true name is never revealed, is anything but a stereotype, although many heroes have been modeled after him. Yes, he is tall, dark and handsome. This description is not terribly distinctive or unusual. One could definitely call him the strong silent type, and he does have a marked sense of honor, loyalty and justice. However, born and raised in Virginia before the Civil War, it is realistic to assume he was instilled with the values of a southern gentleman. Although he was not to the manor born, his family was decent and hardworking, and one certainly does not need wealth to live by the Good Book. A war veteran and a longtime wanderer throughout the western territories, he had learned survival skills by his mid-twenties. Loose lips was not a desirable trait if one wanted to live a long and healthy life. I found the Virginian to be a credible character, flawed like all men, but with a clear and unwavering sense of right and wrong. He is a man suited to his environment and to his times, and personifies the rugged individual.

It is important to note the period in which this novel was written to fully enjoy it, just as it is crucial to understand the times and setting in which such authors as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and George Eliot wrote. In "The Virginian," Wister states: "It was through the Declaration of Independence that we Americans acknowledged the eternal equality of man. For by it we abolished a cut-and-dried aristocracy. We had seen little men artificially held up in high places, and great men artificially held down in low places, and our own justice-loving hearts abhorred this violence to human nature. Therefore, we decreed that every man should henceforth have equal liberty to find his own level. By this very decree we acknowledged and gave freedom to true aristocracy, saying, 'Let the best man win, whoever he is.' That is America's word. That is true democracy." Believing this so strongly, is it any wonder that the character of the Virginian was created?

As for Miss Mary Stark Wood of Bennington, Vermont, who calls herself spinster at age 20, she is a woman ahead of her time. Many have been created in Mary's image, but she is the original. Intelligent, independent, adventurous, full of pluck and, yes, pretty, she sets off to teach school in Bear Creek, Wyoming, to get away from family pressure to wed an unwanted suitor, and probably to see more of the world. An acquaintance and correspondent of Miss Wood's, Mrs. Balaam, a Bear Creek resident, wrote and told the young woman of the teaching position. Mary accepts, and as it happens, the Virginian is the first to meet her upon her arrival. He actually rescues her, as the primitive stagecoach she has been traveling in is mired-down in a creek - the driver drunk and quite irresponsible. She is later embarrassed, remembering how tightly she clung to the cowboy, in fright, not out of flirtatiousness. He, however, cannot get her out of his mind. This is so much more than a romance novel, although there is romance aplenty, of both the classical nature and the kind between a man courting a woman.

The Virginian's bete noir is an evil character named Trampas. The two clash throughout the tale until the final showdown. One of the books classic lines has our hero responding to Trampas after a nasty insult, "When you call me that, smile." He is also betrayed by a trusted friend who becomes corrupt out of greed and weakness. Law and order had not arrived in Wyoming Territory and it was up to individuals to maintain a civil society. Mary Wood calls this taking the law into one's own hands, or vigilantism. This issue becomes a bone of contention between herself and the Virginian.

Owen Wister imbues his characters, especially the Virginian and Mary, with a remarkable sense of depth. Their relationship, as well as his relationship with his old friend Steve, are depicted with particular poignancy. The initial reserve between Mary and her suitor is normal for the period. However, the sexual tension between them is palpable. Graphic love scenes are not necessary here. The author does more with a kiss and an embrace than many modern writers accomplish with all their erotica. There is some terrific humor also. I found Emily, the hen, to be one of the most original animals in fiction and absolutely hilarious. Wister's vivid passages describing the Wyoming wilderness are extraordinary, making it easy for one to visualize the gorgeous landscapes. The pace is somewhat slow at times. However, I did not find the narrative at all tedious. Time passed more slowly back then and things took longer to accomplish for obvious reasons. This difference is demonstrated in the way the tale is told.

"The Virginian" was voted by the Western American Writers in 1977 as the greatest western novel of all time. Whether it is or isn't is debatable, but I really enjoyed it. In this 100th anniversary edition Max Evans contributes a new and fascinating Afterwards. Highly recommend.
JANA

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The Virginian Railway
H. Reid
Manufacturer: Kalmbach Publication c.1961 p.1970
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N293XK

Jefferson the Virginian - Volume I (Jefferson and His Time, Vol 1)

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Highly recommended
Detailed account
One of the hallmarks of American scholarship
At the Threshold of Greatness
Jefferson: The Virginian

Jefferson the Virginian - Volume I (Jefferson and His Time, Vol 1)
Dumas Malone
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316544744

Book Description

This is the first volume of distinguished historian Dumas Malone's Pulitzer Prize-winning six-volume work on the life and times of Thomas Jefferson. Based on vast sources, it covers Jefferson's ancestry, youth, education, and legal career; his marriage and the building of Monticello; the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and the Notes on Virginia; his rich, fruitful legislative career; his highly controversial governorship; and his early services to the development of the West.

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommended.......2007-06-24

I am currently attempting to read a biography of every President. For Washington and Adams, I settled for one volume biographies, the latter which was fortunate enough to be the Pulitzer Prize winning effort of David McCullough. After researching the available biographies for Thomas Jefferson I decided to plunge into the six volume work of Dumas Malone, partly because I did not find a one volume effort which I felt adequately delved into all the aspects of Mr. Jefferson's life in which I was interested, but mostly because as a University of Virginia alumni and admitted Jefferson admirer I wanted to read the most comprehensive and definitive biography available.

Thankfully, I have not been disappointed. (Note: This critique refers only to the first volume, Jefferson The Virginian. I will review each volume separately as I complete it.) The book is surprisingly readable and written in a very straightforward and engaging prose. Surprisingly, this first volume, if anything, is less detailed than I would have wished, especially regarding Jefferson's early life. As Mr. Malone recounts, Jefferson's home at Shadwell burned in 1770 and many documents that would have shed more light on Jefferson's early life were lost.

The other notable quality of this work is, though ultimately encompassing more than 3000 pages of text, each chapter has a narrow and well organized focus limited to 10-20 pages. This allows for quick reads of short chapters, which makes the reading of this large work more manageable and also aids in better retention of information.

There is not much I can criticize of Mr. Malone's work, at least as it pertains to this volume. Obviously Mr. Malone is a Jefferson admirer, and that should be taken into account by the reader, although I can find no example where this is so pronounced as to circumvent a fair presentation of his exhaustive research, leaving the reader to ultimately decide for themselves. It should also be noted that this book was published in 1948, so obviously some scholarship since then may be missing (notably the children he fathered with his slave, Sally Hemings, which would not pertain to this volume in any event). Finally, it should be noted that Mr. Malone assumes a working knowledge of Revolutionary history. For example, the text mentions important events such as the Stamp Act, Townshend duties, and various battles, but makes no attempt to expound upon them in detail beyond what is required for the purpose of the biography.

In summary, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in a thorough study of the life of Thomas Jefferson. While a vast and comprehensive work, it is so well written and organized as to be easily accessible to all.

Detailed account.......2003-10-31

VERY detailed account of Jefferson during the his life in Virginia. Although it had in depth description of the political structure, the people, and Jefferson's involvement in the politics of the United States and Virginia, it did not include a very detailed account of his personal life as is best depicted through letters. Surprisingly, despite Jefferson's extensive correspondence during the 41 years that the book covers, this correspondence was not used sufficiently to shed further light on Jefferson's personal life and intimate thoughts. Additionally, Dumas Malone did not focus enough on one of Thomas Jefferson's greatest contribution - the drafting of the Declaration of Independence.

One of the hallmarks of American scholarship.......2002-12-25

What can be said about this monument to Jefferson scholarship? I am sure that somewhere in universities around the United States there are "scholar squirrels who want to put down this invaluable resource in Jefferson studies. It is always the way that mice attempt to gnaw at lions. This is not a perfect work (and my remarks refer to all of the books in the series as a whole), there are somethings, namely Sally Hemmings references which are wrong and will not sit well with American 21st century mores. There is the issue of slavery which was handled much differently 50 years ago than it is now.
Jefferson is not worthy of our interest because of Sally Hemmings and because he kept slaves. Jefferson is great because of the Declaration of Independence and his fight for the rights of man. While it may have been hypocritical to preach liberty and keep slaves, it is doubtful that slavery ever would have been abolished if Jefferson had never gained the prominence that he did. This book and the others that follow show why we should continue to honor the public man even though his private side may have been wanting.

At the Threshold of Greatness.......2002-10-06

Malone, once called "the greatest Jeffersonian of them all", originally conceived this biography in four volumes. By the time he published the last book in 1982, at age 89, it had grown to six volumes. It remains the standard life of Jefferson, an indelible and important portrait of a great man, flaws and all, by a great scholar.

JEFFERSON THE VIRGINIAN begins things with Jefferson's birth into a family of much distinction. His father Peter was a noted surveyor and a man of inordinate physical strength who nevertheless died fairly young (in his fifties). The book covers Jefferon's education at William and Mary (at a time when formal education was not a widespread thing, even among the gentry), his law practice, his beginning the construction of Monticello (which would preoccupy him right up until the time of his death), his terms in the Virginia House of Burgesses (one of which was served after his governorship), his writing of the Declaration of Independence (his initial version, a scathing indictment of King George, had to be toned down by his compatriots), and his controversial governorship (in which he sustained much of the blame for the British army's inroads into the Old Dominion state). It ends with his appointment as an American ambassador to France.

Obviously this is no primer on Jefferson. Malone spares no detail. His prose is fastidious, elegant, and easy to read, although you may find yourself putting the book down from time to time to absorb what you have just read. Overall, Jefferson emerges here as a man naturally scholarly and reclusive, content to build his home, pursue his studies, and tend to his family, who is pushed into action by the obligations of his caste and by his own fervent patriotism.

Malone has been criticised for writing a virtual hagiography of Jefferson, ignoring the "darker" aspects of the man's personality. In other words, unlike Fawn Brodie, Malone did not reduce his subject to some psychological cripple and sex deviate. The charges are balderdash. Malone DOES recognize Jefferson's flaws (e.g., his lack of a sense of humor and his sometimes indecision in taking action). He simply refuses to turn Jefferson into a whipping boy for his own ideological preoccupations.

This is as complete a contemporary biography as we will probably ever get of this great man.

Jefferson: The Virginian.......2002-04-17

Jefferson: The Virginian by Dumas Malone is a masterful work on Thomas Jefferson's early years, from birth to being appointed as an ambassador to France.

This work is one of the first comprehensive biographies of Jefferson's life. This is the first of six in the complete set. Malone is a distinguished historian so you will read about Jefferson's ancestry, along with Jefferson's youth, education, legal career, his marriage, the construction of Monticello. Not that was enough for one man's life, but we see the writing of the Declaration of Independence and Jefferson's work on the "Notes on Virginia."

We get an insight as to how Jefferson conducted his highly successful legislative career and his governorship. But what we do NOT see is the soul of Jefferson... the man, the human being. We get facts and more facts about a very complex individual and a monumental man. But the richness of the breath of life is left out.

Nonetheless, the book is a very scholarly work, one of the first to complete a comphensive work on a mulitfarious man. I enjoyed reading this volume for its historical importance and significance. This volume lays the ground work on which all of the other volumes set.

Book Description

The essays in this collection offer new evidence and new conclusions on topics in the history of African Americans in Virginia such as the demography of early slave imports, the means used to regulate slave labor, the situation of female hired slaves in the backcountry, African American women in the Civil War era, and the Garveyite grassroots organizations of the 1920s.

No Cross, No Crown: Black Nuns in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans

Average customer rating:

Interesting look at the beginnings of a community of nuns.

No Cross, No Crown: Black Nuns in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans
Mary Bernard Deggs
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Monasticism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

African American | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Chained to the Rock of Adversity: To Be Free, Black, and Female in the Old South (Southern Voices from the Past)
Creole New Orleans: Race and Americanization
Lords of Misrule: Mardi Gras and the Politics of Race in New Orleans
Blues for New Orleans: Mardi Gras And America's Creole Soul (Conduct & Communications)

ASIN: 0253215439

Book Description

The Sisters of the Holy Family is a religious community of women of African and Creole descent in New Orleans, founded in 1842 by Henriette Delille. While shielded by their stark white bonnets and flowing black skirts, they evangelized slaves and free people of color and cared for the poor, the sick, and the elderly. This is their remarkable story, written between 1894 and 1896 by one of their own, Sister Mary Bernard Deggs.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting look at the beginnings of a community of nuns........2002-01-15

I particularly enjoyed the historical bits that the editors
included in "No Cross, No Crown." I had heard of this
congregation before I bought the book, but knew next to nothing
about its beginnings and history. The difficulties that the
women had to face must have been tremendous - for not only were
they female, but also Black or Creole-Black women living in a
southern state in the 1800s. Women who seemed to have to tread a
fine line in working for women of color, both free and slave.

The remarkable history of Tony Beaver, West Virginian;

Average customer rating:

Request for more copies

The remarkable history of Tony Beaver, West Virginian;
Mary Elizabeth Cober
Manufacturer: D. McKay Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007E5KLI

Customer Reviews:

Request for more copies.......2005-09-29

I would love to have more copies in good to very good condition. Are there more out there for sale?

Average customer rating:

Always a Virginian
Alice Winn
Manufacturer: Kenmore Assoc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006YARG2

Virginians at War: The Civil War Experiences of Seven Young Confederates (The American Crisis Series, No. 8)

Average customer rating:

A Good Book, But
The Civil War in Human Terms

Virginians at War: The Civil War Experiences of Seven Young Confederates (The American Crisis Series, No. 8)
John G. Selby
Manufacturer: SR Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0842050558

Book Description

Virginians at War is the tale of seven Virginians who strongly supported the Confederacy from beginning to end. Their stories illustrate how devotion to the cause of independence, religious faith, family and community commitment to the struggle, a

Customer Reviews:

A Good Book, But.......2005-01-12

This book gives as it promises,
"The Civil war Experiences of seven Young Confederates." It is well documented and researched. The only problem that keeps me from awarding 5 stars is that the Characters move in and out of the work in a rather confusing manner, which, at least in my case, forced me to go back and confirm just which character the author was speaking of.
Even with that problem, it will be a good addition to anyone's civil war libray.

The Civil War in Human Terms.......2003-01-16

I found Dr. Selby's book poignant and insightful. His use of the personal in history makes one see the war in human terms. The ambivalence, sacrifice, and struggle of the participants shatters the romantic notions of the Confederacy to reveal real human beings. The imprint of the war on the profiled Virginians brings history to life. I strongly recommend it.

Average customer rating:

Virginian Railway Locomotives
Lloyd D. Lewis
Manufacturer: T L C Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1883089050

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