The Old Rebel: Robert E. Lee As He Was Seen By His Contemporaries

Why in the 21st Century should we care about "the Old Rebel" Robert E. Lee, a Victorian who was old fashioned even during his own time, and who died nearly 150 years ago? Why a book about how his peers saw him, when the world he lived in disappeared long ago, making his life and death seemingly meaningless to those of us living in the modern era? In "The Old Rebel: Robert E. Lee As He Was Seen By His Contemporaries," award-winning author and Southern historian Lochlainn Seabrook provides the answers: in our ever growing impersonal cyber age where we continue to distance ourselves not only from others, but from God and Nature as well, the Christ-like Southern gentleman Robert E. Lee is more relevant than ever before. In his hard-working, conservative, dutiful, and honest ways, in his deeply spiritual, modest, loyal, gentle, loving, and forgiving nature, Lee serves as an ideal moral compass for today's depersonalized humanistic society, a true-life paragon that all of us-no matter what our age, occupation, race, religion, or political persuasion-can aspire to. To aid us in better understanding the stunning power of Robert E. Lee's life, Mr. Seabrook has gathered together nearly 400 footnoted quotes by the General's 19th-Century contemporaries, including both his admirers and his former Northern enemies. The book, a companion to Seabrook's equally absorbing work "The Quotable Robert E. Lee," is divided into convenient chapters, covering everything from Lee's birth, childhood, and family life, to his service in both the U. S. military and the C. S. military, as well as his time as president of Washington College (now Washington and Lee University). We also learn about the General's earliest known French and English ancestors, his royal bloodline through William the Conqueror, Stratford Hall (Lee's birthplace) and Arlington House (the Lee-Custis family estate), and the etymology of the Lee surname. Seabrook's personal notes and the numerous Victorian illustrations lend historical context, helping make this Civil War Sesquicentennial Edition an indispensable work for all those interested in learning the truth about Lincoln's War, Confederate history, and Southern culture. The Foreword is by nine-time award-winning Texas historian Scott Bowden ("Last Chance For Victory: Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg Campaign"). An attractive, unique, affordable, and popular tourist-friendly work that will appeal to both casual Civil War buffs and hardcore Civil War scholars alike, "The Old Rebel" is the perfect addition to any retail outlet, including not only bookstores, but Civil War sites, historic houses, museum gift stores, antique shops, B&Bs, tack shops, motorcycle shops, and gun stores. Tennessee author and Lee scholar Lochlainn Seabrook, a close cousin of the Lee and Custis families, is the winner of the prestigious Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal. Known as the "American Robert Graves" after his celebrated English cousin, Seabrook is the author of over thirty popular adult, teen, and children's books, including: "Everything You Were Taught About the Civil War is Wrong, Ask a Southerner!"; "A Rebel Born: A Defense of Nathan Bedford Forrest"; "Honest Jeff and Dishonest Abe: A Southern Children's Guide to the Civil War"; "The Quotable Nathan Bedford Forrest"; "Nathan Bedford Forrest: Southern Hero, American Patriot"; "Give 'Em Hell Boys! The Complete Military Correspondence of Nathan Bedford Forrest"; "The Quotable Jefferson Davis"; "The Alexander H. Stephens Reader"; "The Unquotable Abraham Lincoln: The President's Quotes They Don't Want You to Know!"; "Abraham Lincoln: The Southern View"; "Lincolnology: The Real Abraham Lincoln Revealed In His Own Words"; "The Constitution of the Confederate States of America Explained"; "The Articles of Confederation Explained"; "Encyclopedia of the Battle of Franklin"; "Jesus and the Law of Attraction"; and "The Bible and the Law of Attraction."