As award-winning popular culture author, scholar, and fellow Virginia native Dr. Marshall Fishwick himself states in his introductory pages, “This book is about a Southerner of the Reconstruction period whose work has been almost completely ignored to date. His name was Michael Miley, and his field was photography. The record of his life and of his work indicates that he deserves a distinctive place for both his scientific contributions and his aesthetic achievements in this field.” Michael Miley (1841-1918) was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, and while still young moved south onto a farm in Rockbridge County. Following his service in General Thomas J. Jackson’s “Stonewall Brigade” during the war, he began his photographic career. Portraiture would go on to comprise the majority of Michael Miley’s work, with his famous images of Robert E. Lee as popular then as they are now.
Robert E. Lee is well known as a Confederate general and as an educator later in life, but most people are exposed to the same handful of images of one of America’s most famous sons. It has been almost seven decades since anyone has attempted a serious study of Lee in photographs, and with Don Hopkins’s painstakingly researched and lavishly illustrated Robert E. Lee in War and Peace, the wait is finally over. Dr. Hopkins, a Mississippi surgeon and lifelong student of the Civil War and Southern history with a recent interest in Robert E. Lee’s “from life” photographs, scoured manuscript repositories and private collections across the country to locate every known Lee image (61 in all) in existence today. The detailed text accompanying these images provides a sweeping history of Lee’s life and a compelling discussion of antique photography, with biographical sketches of all of Lee’s known photographers. The importance of information within the photographer’s imprint or backmark is emphasized throughout the book. Hopkins offers a substantial amount of previously unknown information about these images, how each came to be, and the mistakes in fact and attribution other authors and writers have made describing photographs of Lee to the reading public. Many of the images in this book are being published for the first time. In addition to a few rare photographs and formats that were uncovered during the research phase of Robert E. Lee in War and Peace, the author offers—for the first time—definitive and conclusive attribution of the identity of the photographer of the well-known Lee “in the field” images, and reproduces a startling imperial-size photograph of Lee made by Alexander Gardner of Washington, D.C. Students of American history in general and the Civil War in particular, as well as collectors and dealers who deal with Civil War era photography, will find Hopkins’s outstanding Robert E. Lee in War and Peace a true contribution to the growing literature on the Civil War. About the Author: Born in the rural South, Donald A. Hopkins has maintained a fascination with Southern history since he was a child. In addition to published papers in the medical field, he has written several Civil War articles and The Little Jeff: The Jeff Davis Legion, Cavalry, Army of Northern Virginia for which he received the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal. Dr. Hopkins served as Battalion Surgeon for the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, (better known as “The Walking Dead”) in Vietnam. He was awarded the purple heart and the Bronze Star with combat “V.” Dr. Hopkins is a surgeon in Gulfport, Mississippi, where he lives with his wife Cindy and their golden retriever Dixie.
A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning historian and best-selling author of Gettysburg comes the definitive biography of Robert E. Lee. An intimate look at the Confederate general in all his complexity—his hypocrisy and courage, his inner turmoil and outward calm, his disloyalty and his honor. "An important contribution to reconciling the myths with the facts." —New York Times Book Review Robert E. Lee is one of the most confounding figures in American history. Lee betrayed his nation in order to defend his home state and uphold the slave system he claimed to oppose. He was a traitor to the country he swore to serve as an Army officer, and yet he was admired even by his enemies for his composure and leadership. He considered slavery immoral, but benefited from inherited slaves and fought to defend the institution. And behind his genteel demeanor and perfectionism lurked the insecurities of a man haunted by the legacy of a father who stained the family name by declaring bankruptcy and who disappeared when Robert was just six years old. In Robert E. Lee, the award-winning historian Allen Guelzo has written the definitive biography of the general, following him from his refined upbringing in Virginia high society, to his long career in the U.S. Army, his agonized decision to side with Virginia when it seceded from the Union, and his leadership during the Civil War. Above all, Guelzo captures Robert E. Lee in all his complexity--his hypocrisy and courage, his outward calm and inner turmoil, his honor and his disloyalty.
Robert E. Lee offers both a succinct biography and "the" definitive collection of nearly 350 photographs, important paintings, original engravings, artifacts, and significant documents pertaining to the Confederate general. Although the Civil War years are emphasized, Lee's early years, the Mexican War, and the postwar years in Lexington are amply explored.
Based on Mrs. Lee's personal notebook and presented by her great-granddaughter, this charming book is a treasury of recipes, remedies, and household history. Both the original and modern versions of 70 recipes are included.
