This book provides a comprehensive and insightful analysis of the Civil War and the Confederacy, and challenges the readers to examine their own assumptions and prejudices. The book also offers a positive and optimistic perspective on how the South and the nation can overcome the legacy of slavery and secession, and achieve peace and harmony. This book is essential for anyone who seeks to learn more about the historical, social, and political dimensions of the South and the nation.

This is an important book for Civil War buffs as well as Civil Rights proponents. The author (general and professor) traces his own development from one who honored and revered Robert E. Lee to one of the leading opponents to the myth of the Lost Cause and a proponent of removing the names of Confederate generals from U S forts and army bases.

Twenty-five years ago, I served on board the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower with a guy from Virginia. He was a good man: smart, funny, polite; I really liked him. He and I got to talking about history a good bit, and this is what he told me: It wasn't 'the Civil War,' it was "the War of Northern Aggression," and it wasn't actually fought over slavery, it was an issue of states's rights. Robert E. Lee what the greatest general in the history of mankind, and the only reason the South lost was that the North had more men and material. I don't remember him telling me that slaves were actually happier and better off in bondage, but I suspect that he entertained that thought.

The gentleman--and, again, a good guy-- was one of many Southerners I served with in the United States Navy, and they all believed some variation of what I've written above. The history people are taught in the South, and the historical culture in which they live, is that of 'The Lost Cause' of the Confederacy. Southern pride, noble soldiers, and honorable officers fighting to protect the South's way of life from bullying Yankees.

Fast forward to 2015, in Charleston SC, where one Dylan Roof murders a bunch of African-American people at a Bible study in a state where the Confederate flag flies proudly over the state capital. Fast forward to 2017 and the unpleasantness in Charlottesville. Fast forward again to January, 2021, and the sight of a man who breached the US Capital and marched along the hallways bearing a Confederate Battle Flag. Recall President Donald Trump refusing to sign the National Defense Act in November, 2020, because he objected to the names of US Army bases being changed from those of Confederate generals to something less...what's the word? Controversial?

Why arethere so many monuments--including one in Arlington National Cemetery--commemorating the Confederacy? Why are so many schools and buildings and streets named after Confederates? Why was their a statue of Robert E. Lee in our nation's capital--the same one attacked by seditious men and women who, like the Confederates from the 1860s, simply refused to accept the result of a Presidential election? The past, as William Faulkner said, isn't dead. It isn't even the past.

The author of this book is a Virginian, a 35 year full-bird Army colonel, and a historian who teaches at West Point. He describes his own upbringing in the South, his veneration of Robert E. Lee, his formation at Washington and Lee University (where Less is buried), and his experiences teaching at West Point where Lee, and other Confederates, are honored. The author traces the history of the post-war myth of the Lost Cause, the beginning of the cult of Robert E. Lee, and the influence of all of this mythology on the South to this day, as well as the attempts to reconcile white Southerners to white Northerners. Black Americans, is seems, didn't really get to weigh in. The book is honest, self-critical, and fascinating. I learned a lot that I didn't know.

But here is what I already knew, and what I told my friend on Ike many, many years ago: Lee, and his fellow officers, were traitors. They broke their vows as officers in the United States military, made rebellion against a duly elected government, caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of American military personnel, and did it all for slavery. Read that again: for the perpetuation of human slavery. That's what the Civil War (or maybe we can call it the War of Racist Traitors?) was about. Lee's own words, and his own actions, damn him. He was no hero. He was an oath-breaking, slave holding traitor. As were many of his fellows. Full stop.

We still deal with the repercussions of the War of the Rebellion today, 150+ years later. Even today, the former Confederate states are filled with...let's be polite and say Southerners in all their glory and pride. I lived in the panhandle of FL for sixth months, and I had the opportunity to visit Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana during my time there. It is an interesting place, for sure: beautiful girls, religious zealotry, extreme poverty, and violence and ignorance. A different world that staid old New England.

In the final analysis, it may be that our cultures really are just too different to mesh together. Perhaps the United States should (peacefully) break into parts so that those whose world views are so at odds can stop hating each other and go about their business untroubled by "those people": Yankees, Red Necks, Hillbillies, city folk, whatever. In the long run, it just may be for the best

An exciting blend of memoir, history, and the search for justice, this title compliments traditional works (like Shelby Foote) by interrogating and shining a light on them, as well as recent ones like How to be an Anti-Racist, with which it shares themes. I learned a lot and stopped to look up even more!

Do you remember learning history, especially American history, in the late sixties/early seventies? It was bland, black and white, with very little nuances in regard to details and very little context. The history classes also missed most of actual history. This is the world that formed Ty Seidule. Robert E. Lee and Me is Ty Seidule's response to his changing awareness of what American history actually is.

Ty Seidule grew up in the South (Alexandria, VA and Monroe, GA), attended Washington and Lee University and joined the U. S. Army via ROTC. Only later in life did he live above the Mason-Dixon line. Later in his career, he was posted to West Point as a history professor. He had become what he wanted to be early in life - a Southern gentleman like his idol, Robert E. Lee. But life has a way of changing one's views on people, circumstances, and facts. Life brings to the forefront concepts and facts that challenge long held beliefs. Over time and distance, Siedule's views of his hometowns, alma maters, and cherished beliefs clashed with the facts he uncovered. As a trained historian, Siedule sifted facts from fictions and was forced to change his views on the so-called Lost Cause and its pinnacle of worship, Robert E. Lee. This change of outlook is the meat of the book.

Robert E. Lee and Me will not resonate with every reader. But, if the reader is willing to listen to Ty Seidule's story, they will learn how to nuance history and its facts for themselves so they are more equipped to make up their own mind.

Robert E. Lee and Me is the story of a southern Army Officer who has discovered the truth about the Civil War that he did not know growing up. Seidule was born in Alexandria, VA, lived in Monroe, AL (the place of the last lynching), and went to college at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA so he could become a southern gentleman. Growing up Robert E Lee was his hero. Seidule grew up believing the Lost Cause myth and the Lee was the best General in US history only losing when he was vastly out manned and out gunned. After decades of this belief Seidule was stationed to teach military history at West Point. While there he started to question why West Point had so many monuments to Lee on campus. This question led Seidule down a path that would reveal a history he did not know about the places he grew up and that shaped him as well as the history of all confederate monuments.
He will be the first to tell you that after learning this information he because kind of a zealot in regards to removing these items and keeping more from being created but it was not until 2017 that he actually told his own personal history in the hopes that it would help people understand. This is a story of not just the horrible racial history of the places he has lived or the naming of Army Forts and building of monuments but also the path of self education on Seidule's part to learn and truly believe that the Lost Cause is in fact a myth and that the South & Lee went to war over slavery and not states rights. Towards the end of the book Seidule talks about why Lee had no choice but to fight for the south but in fact made a choice that was vastly different from other military officers of southern decent.
I think right now in this country this is an important message for all to hear. So often it is easy to dismiss the message when the messenger is not like us but here is a white, southern man who grew up in the 60s & 70s believing everything that the post-war south wanted them to believe. It is a powerful message that we can all change and grow as individuals and that sometimes if the facts will not persuade someone then maybe the backstory of the messenger will.

Only about 10 years ago, after reading a biography of Lee did I realize that not everyone thought of him as a hero. It seems stupid now, but growing up in the south, you are fed this myth of the lost cause and Lee’s honorable position even if you don’t knowingly digest it. The author really shows the extent to which these beliefs are held.

I knew vaguely of naming army forts after Confederate soldiers, but didn’t realize the extent of it. While changing the names would obviously be hard, there are plenty of heroic actual US Army soldiers to chose from.

Seidule tracks the increase in glory given to Lee along side the rise in integration and representation of Blacks.

The author discusses how everything he believed was wrong. His journey reflects that of many of us who grew up in the south. My grandmother called it the War Between the States. The Civil War may have ended over 150 years ago, but it’s repercussions shape today’s society.

“The white southern myths created my identity. The problem is that the myths I learned were just flat-out, fundamentally wrong. ....The myths and lies I learned promoted a form of racial hierarchy and white supremacy.“

“[I] grew up thinking that before 1861 slaves were somehow not quite as human as white southerners that the enslaved only became real people after 1865. It pains me to write that I believed something so grotesque and immoral, but it’s worse to lie.”

The author of this book was born in Virginia and also lived in other southern states. He grew up idolizing Robert E. Lee and graduated from Washington and Lee University. He was indoctrinated with the myth of the Lost Cause and a romanticized view of the south that refused to accept that the Civil War was fought to preserve slavery. However, after decades as an army officer and head of the history department at West Point he now realizes that Lee committed treason to preserve slavery. Lee and his family profited financially from slavery and he held racist views throughout his life. While most US Army officers (including the southern ones) remained loyal to their country, Lee was a traitor who abrogated his solemn oath, orchestrated the killing of many US Army soldiers and fought to keep millions in bondage. The author believes that by revealing his own misguided past and his evolution he can reach an audience still enthralled by Lee and the Lost Cause. Frankly, I doubt that those people (like the Daughters of the Confederacy) will read his book, but the book was interesting and I’m glad he is making an effort.

I learned lots of details about the glorification of Lee and the southern officers whose names grace various forts. The continuing presence of Lee references at West Point is quite troubling. There is the Lee Housing area on Lee Road ending at Lee Gate. Lee Barracks was named in 1970. A painting of Lee in his Confederate uniform was hung at West Point shortly after Truman ordered the integration of the troops. This is not the first book I’ve read that concluded that Civil War monuments proliferated as a response to African American advances during Reconstruction or the civil rights movement. With respect to what to do about these monuments, the author feels that communities should “study the circumstances that led to their creation. Everyone must understand what those monuments represent. A monument tells historians more about who emplaced it than it does the figure memorialized.”

I received a free copy of the ebook from the publisher. I also listened to the audiobook. The ebook has footnotes not included in the audiobook, but the audiobook has a bonus interview conducted by the historian Rick Atkinson with the author.

Seidule takes the reader through a life growing up in the South, primarily VA and GA, where he was immersed in all of the nostalgia of the Lost Cause. However, as Seidule became a member of the U.S. Army and spends time at West Point, his views of Robert E. Lee and the Lost Cause begin to change. Through thorough research and self-analysis, Seidule comes to acknowledge that Lee was a traitor to his country. Seidule does not take a brow-beating tone toward the reader; instead, he offers astute evidence for his position of refuting the Lost Cause. His argument is well-supported and convincing. Seidule's book is timely, honest, and thought-provoking. He provides an enlightened perspective that will help to bring Americans together and heal our nations wounds that have been open for too long. I also recommend watching some Seidule clips online to further enrich your reading experiences, particularly his speech in Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University. I do thank NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138120-robert-e-lee-and-me" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1603739375l/53138120._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138120-robert-e-lee-and-me">Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8937226.Ty_Seidule">Ty Seidule</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3758419309">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Seidule takes the reader through a life growing up in the South, primarily VA and GA, where he was immersed in all of the nostalgia of the Lost Cause. However, as Seidule became a member of the U.S. Army and spends time at West Point, his views of Robert E. Lee and the Lost Cause begin to change. Through thorough research and self-analysis, Seidule comes to acknowledge that Lee was a traitor to his country. Seidule does not take a brow-beating tone toward the reader; instead, he offers astute evidence for his position of refuting the Lost Cause. His argument is well-supported and convincing. Seidule's book is timely, honest, and thought-provoking. He provides an enlightened perspective that will help to bring Americans together and heal our nations wounds that have been open for too long. I also recommend watching some Seidule clips online to further enrich your reading experiences, particularly his speech in Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University. I do thank NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If I could give this six stars, I would. It’s not easy to make a fact-filled, well reasoned expose engrossing, but Ty Seidule has succeeded. This was fascinating from cover to cover.
Seidule was raised in the South and revered Robert E. Lee as a kind of demi-god. He believed, heart and soul, in the myth of the “lost cause”: that the Civil War was fought for some honorable reason, not to continue slavery. This myth includes the idea that Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general, but that the Confederates lost because the United States Army had more resources. Later in life, as a professor emeritus at West Point, and a colonel in the U.S. Army, Seidule began to see that the historical evidence did not support what he had been taught, that much of it had been completely fabricated, which led him to question why these myths regarding the Civil War were so commonly believed in the South.
My grandparents lived in South Carolina, where, as a child, I spent a lot of time in the 1960s and 1970s. Racism was evident everywhere. In spite of my experiences in the Deep South, I never heard the myth of the lost cause, or knew of the reverence many felt towards Robert E. Lee. Until I read this book, I never thought of Robert E. Lee as anyone special, just another defeated confederate general who fought against the United States to continue enslaving human beings. I never knew there was any controversy about this. This book opened my eyes to the existence of these deeply held beliefs stemming from the defeat of the Confederacy.
This book is exactly what is needed for this time in history. Last week, a mob of insurrectionists, many of them white supremacists, full of fury, stormed the U.S. Capitol, threatening the members of Congress and the Vice President, desperate to overturn the election of Joseph Biden. It was obvious that many of these people held extremely strong beliefs that baffled me. As I read this, I had multiple “aha moments”. So much was illuminated about the roots of this hate.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It astonished and enlightened me, while keeping me engrossed until the end. I plan to urge all my friends to read this as soon as possible. The survival of the U.S. may depend on its citizens understanding the underlying beliefs that create and support racism.

This is a tough book to review. There is a lot to unpack here. As there usually is in regards to the Civil War and the south and the myth that they have perpetuated since the start and end of their rebellion. The author does an excellent job of unpacking many of the myths that have been perpetuated at truth for hundreds of years along with the unpacking of his OWN beliefs and how he has used that knowledge to teach the future generations the truth rather than the myths and lies that have been taught for years. There was quite a bit of information that I didn't know about the battles and the naming of the forts and some of the history that is only taught in southern schools that helped cement my already strong belief in how wrong the south was in their rebellion and how it was totally based on keeping systemic slavery and nothing else.

This will be a tough book to read for some. I get that. When all that you know and believe is challenged, it is tough to admit that and then also admit that you [and everything around you] need to change. I admire the author and his willingness to be transparent about his former beliefs and what it took to change them. It isn't often that someone who is indoctrinated in a belief system is willing to admit they are wrong and then also tell the how and why and what they are now doing about it. Kudos to him for that alone. The book as a whole, with all the history and stories is just cherries on the top for a history geek. It is an important book that need to be read - it shows that people CAN change, people CAN be taught and people CAN realize that all they have been taught [falsely] is incorrect and needs to be adjusted and changed. It also shows that not every person who believes in a racist trope is someone who flies the confederate flag and marches to kill people [re: Charlottesville or the attack on the Capital on 1.6.2021]. It can be the very person you'd never expect [i.e. a West Point history professor]. I am, for what its worth, so grateful that the author found his way to the truth and is now working to make sure that truth is taught everywhere. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ty Seidule, and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule. Mr. Seidule is a retired Brigadier General in the US Army and. Professor Emeritus of history at West Point. I requested to read this book for numerous reasons, one of which was a curiosity on what a history professor and a southerner would have to say about the Civil War and Robert E. Lee. I figured he would have a lot of information to impart and I was right. Mr. Seidule grew up in the south( some of his time growing up was in Georgia, not too far from me in Walton County), and grew up believing what he was raised to believe, that the South had other reasons to secede, and that Robert E. Lee deserved to be his hero. The author takes you through his life and step by step shows why everything he grew up believing was wrong, and how he came to reckon with his own racist past. The book is well written, and thoroughly researched. I found that it could be a little slow at times and a little repetitive. But overall a good read. 3⭐

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review..

This book is about one man's coming to grips with the myths that he was raised on about the Civil War and being raised in the South. While interesting, it came to be a bit cumbersome as the author beat to death that the Civil War was really about maintaining slavery and none of the other typical reasons that you see rationalized for the cause of the conflict. He is right about the true cause. One only needs to look at the events of the past few days and years to see what the brainwashing of the reasons has done to parts of our country.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook page.

Thank you so much to the publicist (Stephen) for inviting me to view a digital ARC through NetGalley! My review for this went through so, so many edits and the final result ended up with links, photos, quotes, formatting... I can only link my blog review and hope it is well received!!

https://onereadingnurse.com/2021/01/06/arc-review-robert-e-lee-and-me-by-ty-seidule/

I wrote a much less involved blurb for Instagram which is here:

...the book is part memoir, part history talk, with an impressive reference bank.

My initial review for this turned into a history essay with references and photos from my own library pertaining to the war... but that's not the point of the book. The point of the book is that Seidule is mad and he wants to gloss over the rebellion to make the confederates look like cartoon villains. Then goes on to give a brief history of reconstruction and the civil rights movement pertaining to confederate idolism in America. He's not wrong, at all, and I learned a lot in his summaries, but he writes exceedingly long chapters and if anyone gets to chapter 7 you finally see SOME military credit being given. The Lee myth is the murkiest one and he should have given both sides earlier on. This is a great book if you want to be angry about racism seen through a 2020 lens, and don't care much about the history of the war. The bottom line, so to speak. I found his anger off-putting, as well as the long chapters and repetitive nature of parts of his writing. I do agree on Gone With the Wind though, an utterly atrocious book.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJt6y6bAP7l/

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it. I must admit that prior to reading it I was a Robert E. Lee fan through and through. After reading it, however, I changed my mind. I don't think Lee was a racist, but I believe now that he was a traitor and stood for a cause that was slavery based.

This one took me a looooong time to read as it is written in a very “research paper” type way, but that isn’t a bad thing by any means. Seidule makes an extremely well researched and strong argument. Two of my biggest takeaways of this book were the importance of ACCURATE LANGUAGE and that we need to NORMALIZE DOING BETTER. What I mean by that, is we need to normalize changing our views as we gather information and admit when we are wrong. It takes courage to look deeply at yourself and admit that you were wrong so I admire the author for doing that so publicly.

I highlighted sooo many passages in this one, too. A couple quotes below:

“To create a more just society, we must start by studying our past. If we want to know where to go, we must know where we’ve been.”

“We find it hard to confront our past because it’s so ugly, but the alternative to ignoring our racist history is creating a racist future.”

This is an amazing book about the whitewashing of history. Ty Seidule grew up in the South and was taught from an early age that Robert E. Lee was a southern gentleman who was to be admired, even revered. He went to segregated private schools, attended Washington and Lee University where the school chapel, named Lee Chapel, was a shrine to the man it was named after. Only after joining the Army and becoming a military historian did he realize the lies he’d been fed. This heavily researched book attempts to set the record straight and paint an accurate portrait of the biggest traitor in American History. This book is a must read for anyone interested in history, particularly as it relates to the Civil War.

I was lucky enough to win an electronic ARC of ROBERT E. LEE AND ME by Ty Seidule through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thank you for the early look, and I hope you have a safe and socially distanced holiday!

Historian and former army officer Ty Seidule has been reflecting on his Virginian and Georgian childhood and the myths surrounding the Confederacy and especially Robert E Lee. He begins with his favorite childhood chapter book about Lee, the Uncle Remus stories, and Gone with the Wind, which he writes has influenced American's view of the Civil War more than any history book. Unfortunately, Margaret Mitchell included every lie of the 'lost cause" myth. He writes of the lynching's that took place when he was a teenager in Monroe, Georgia and how he wasn't aware then of these events. Seidule researches Lee's time at Washington and Lee University where he himself attended school and the refusal of many to see Lee as a traitor to the uniform he wore for years. Seidule then goes to West Point and discovers here how Lee was the only one of 8 army colonels who joined the Confederacy. Seidule gives the reader brutal facts that are grim and sad, but necessary for discussion.

I was highly disappointed with this book. I won't leave a long review here, but this entire book felt like a waste of time. I do not recommend this one at all.