Duty Faithfully Performed: Robert E. Lee and His Critics

by John M. Taylor

Confederate Civil War general Robert E. Lee has not received favorable press inrecent years. Beginning with Thomas Connelly's The Marble Man in 1977, a number of historians have written books designed to topple Lee from his lofty pedestal. In Duty Faithfully Performed, noted biographer John M. Taylor ably counters those revisionist criticisms with a forceful defense of General Lee's character and military accomplishments. Focusing on Lee's personal life and values, on his generalship, and on the erstwhile Confederacy's "Lee cult," Duty Faithfully Performed is a gracefully written counter-revisionist biography of one of the most complex and controversial men in American history.

Genres: Civil War

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John M. Taylor (1930- )

Reviews

[inhonoredglory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book from a historian's point of view: Not many primary sources are referenced (like the Official Records); instead, other historian's works are cited. It begins with a relevant premise -- answering the claims of Lee revisionists -- and makes some interesting points. But going forward, it becomes just a brief biography, relevant to newcomers like me, but of minimal use to a seasoned veteran of Civil War and Robert E. Lee information.