Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee

This very well researched book was a great read. I was looking for information about the man, not his battles. This has lots about the battles, but the author gives insight into what is driving him to make the choices that he made. I found this approach highly satisfying. I"ve been inspired to read other books mentioned, kuch on his as Mary Chestnuts diary and The Lee Girls.As a southern girl born and bred, I discovered that I've unconsciously been looking for my own Robert E Lee NY whole life!What a man, a true gentleman, animal and child lover, loving father,devoted husband, intelligent, loyal, and honorable.I recommend this book to anyone interested in Robert E Lee, civil war battles and Generals, or in just a good historical biography.

I went into this books NOT being a Civil War buff. What I knew about Gen. Lee I knew from the various history classes I have taken throughout the years. I can't speak about how accurate the text is, but I admit it was a pleasant read that gave a lot of background material to the man. We meet Lee before he was the beloved figure, the legend, the brilliant battlefield commander, and we are shown how he developed into that...In fact we are repeatedly shown this, multiple times, with the same words.If this book has a major fault, it would be that the author, in an attempt to look at the whole of Lee's life, decided that he could boil it down to three arguments, that Lee was profoundly influenced by the life of George Washington vs that of his father, that Lee was a kind man, and that Lee was brilliant, but he made mistakes. The author then proceeds to repeat this, constantly, many times with the same phrases, throughout the sections of the book. There were times that I wanted to scream "We get it already!" It was almost as if in trying to write a timeline book, when he ran out of words for a particular chapter in Lee's life, he would go back to one of those arguments as a filler. I don't need that level of handholding and an argument should be, well, argued, not repeated over and over again in the hopes that I would just accept it.Show, not tell, in other words.That said, it was an engrossing read. I can't say that I am now a Civil War buff or that I now know Lee, but I did come away with a better appreciation of him and a desire to learn more about that era and the generals who fought in that war. So if I can recommend this to anyone, it would be to novices who might have an interest, but not a need to know exactly each order and counter order in the war. For that, it's a good book... just be prepared to read the same arguments over and over again.

I recently finished reading “Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee” by Michael Korda. This is the first modern, full-scale, one-volume biography of Lee that I’ve had the pleasure to read in many years.Overall, I think “Clouds of Glory” is an excellent book. It tells the familiar story of Robert E. Lee’s life and career in a straightforward and compelling manner. Korda doesn’t offer any groundbreaking new revelations about Lee; what he does do very effectively is dispel the “marble man” known to history. According to Korda, Lee is an estimable yet deeply flawed figure. He is reserved and mild-mannered, yet sometimes displays strong passions and a harsh temper. (That temper may have led him to make rash decisions during key Civil War battles, which may have cost him victory.) Lee is a man of his times who owns (and possibly mistreats) his slaves. He held many of the same racist views common in his day, which we in the twenty-first century certainly find abhorrent.Korda describes and analyzes most of the key Civil War battles in which Lee participated. He praises Lee for his many battlefield successes, such as the Seven Days campaign and the battles of Second Manassas and Chancellorsville. At the same time, Korda is not afraid to point the blame at Lee for his failures on the battlefield. He is unsparing in his criticism of Lee for his poor decisions that led to a draw at Sharpsburg and a defeat at Gettysburg. Ultimately, however, Michael Korda presents Robert E. Lee as an admirable figure who deserves his place among the great generals in history.I thoroughly enjoyed “Clouds of Glory.” It’s a fascinating and informative book that really brings its subject to life. It is certainly very well researched. My only criticisms of it have to do with Korda’s writing style. He sometimes appears to fall in love with the sound of his own prose. He tends to repeat himself on occasion, and his prose is sometimes wordy and difficult to follow. (I actually found some single sentences that had 90 or more words in them… way too many!)Despite these minor complaints, I think “Clouds of Glory: The Life and Legend of Robert E. Lee” is one of the better biographies of any Civil War general I’ve ever read. Highly recommended. (4½ Stars ^ 5)

New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda delivers a fast-paced, vivid, admiring biography of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.Lee was “a strange combination of martyr, secular saint, Southern gentleman, and perfect warrior,” Korda writes. “. . . a perfectionist, obsessed by duty,” but also “charming, funny, and flirtatious” as well as “a noble, tragic figure, indeed one whose bearing and dignity conferred nobility on the cause for which he fought and still does confer it in the minds of many people.”This book is well-written, and for the most part, sympathetic to Lee - perhaps a little too sympathetic for some readers. Korda quotes a letter Lee wrote to his wife in which he described slavery as “a moral and political evil,” but he adds, “I think it however a greater evil to the white man than the black race. . . . The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, socially, and physically. The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their instruction as a race.”I recommend this book to Lee admirers. Also, please note that Korda also wrote a fine biography of Ulysses S. Grant. Those wanting more balance might want to read both.

Book in perfect condition. A great read.

Loved Korda's easy style and balanced approach to Lee and his place in US history.Loses a star for issues with editing.1. Repetition: e.g. I think the quote about defending from Frederick the Great is used at least 4 times!2. Maps on Kindle are rarely useful and I read using a laptop which doesn't seem to improve things. The maps are largely lifted from Freeman's magnus opus and are mostly unreadable.Michael was editor-in-chief at Simon and Schuster where he still holds an Emeritus role and should've ensured it was better edited.None-the-less I will be sure to read more of his works.

Michael Korda liefert hier ein sehr lesbares Geschichtbuch ab, dass den am amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg interessierten Leser von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite fesselt. Korda gelingt es hier ein Bild des Menschen Robert E. Lee zu vermitteln, das extrem plausibel erscheint. Stärken, Schwächen und Widersprüche dieses außergewöhnlichen Soldaten fügen sich zu einem überaus menschlichen Gesamtbild zusammen. Dabei wird auch der militärische Verlauf des Bürgerkrieges in Virginia und Maryland in ausreichender Tiefe, ohne überflüssige Detailversessenheit dargestellt und auf die wesentlichen Entscheidungen reduziert.

I was really impressed with this book. I felt the author succeeded in giving a balanced view of this man. He made a very revered fellow very human but also conveyed very convincingly the characteristics which made him such an honoured personage to both north and south. As a Canadian, I have a different perspective of course than an American would, and I was pleased to find no north/south - liberal/conservative bent in this author's writing. Congratulations on a job well done.

Assez récent, cette biographie, on le sent le long de la lecture, a profité, largement des précédentes, pour ou contre, l'auteur a du mener une enquète des deux cotés ( pro et contre). pour s'attacher au personnage lui même, de ses racines à son caractère.Le titre résume bien le livre, des nuages et de la gloire, la vie ET la légende de Lee.