Elizabeth Brown Pryor was een vooraanstaand historicus wiens werk zich verdiepte in de levens van belangrijke Amerikaanse figuren. Haar meest geprezen biografieën staan bekend om hun diepgaande betrokkenheid bij archiefbronnen, met name privé-brieven, en bieden nieuwe perspectieven op haar onderwerpen. Pryor benaderde biografieën met nauwgezette zorg, strevend naar authentieke weergaven van karakter en motivatie. Haar vermogen om het verleden te verlichten door middel van primaire documenten en inzichtelijke analyses maakt haar een belangrijke stem voor lezers die geïnteresseerd zijn in de Amerikaanse geschiedenis.
Explores the psychology, character, and leadership of the sixteenth president as evidenced by six encounters with his constituents, from an awkward meeting with Army officers on the eve of the Civil War to a White House conversation with a fierce abolitionist.
“Pryor’s biography helps part with a lot of stupid out there about Lee – chiefly, that he was, somehow, ‘anti-slavery.’” – Ta-Nehisi Coates, theatlantic.com An “unorthodox, critical, and engaging biography” (Boston Globe) – Winner of The Lincoln Prize Robert E. Lee is remembered by history as a tragic figure, stoic and brave but distant and enigmatic. Using dozens of previously unpublished letters as departure points, Pryor produces a stunning personal account of Lee's military ability, shedding new light on every aspect of the complex and contradictory general's life story. Explained for the first time in the context of the young United States's tumultuous societal developments, Lee's actions reveal a man forced to play a leading role in the formation of the nation at the cost of his private happiness.