Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s Reckoning with the Delusion of the Misplaced Trigger

“Ty Seidule scorches us with the reality and rivets us together with his fierce sense of ethical urgency.” –Ron Chernow

In a forceful however humane narrative, former soldier and head of the West Level historical past division Ty Seidule’s Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the myths and lies of the Accomplice legacy―and explores why a few of this nation’s oldest wounds have by no means healed.

Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service within the U.S. Military, each a part of his life strengthened the Misplaced Trigger delusion: that Lee was the best man who ever lived, and that the Confederates had been underdogs who misplaced the Civil Battle with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier basic and Professor Emeritus of Historical past at West Level, his view has radically modified. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, Ty Seidule believes that American historical past calls for a reckoning.

In a novel mix of historical past and reflection, Seidule deconstructs the reality concerning the Confederacy―that its undisputed major aim was the subjugation and enslavement of Black Individuals―and instantly challenges the concept of honoring those that labored to protect that system and dedicated treason of their failed try to realize it. By means of the arc of Seidule’s personal life, in addition to the tradition that fashioned him, he seeks a path to understanding why the details of the Civil Battle have remained buried beneath layers of delusion and even outright lies―and the way they embody a cultural gulf that separates hundreds of thousands of Individuals to this present day.

Half historical past lecture, half meditation on the Civil Battle and its fallout, and half memoir, Robert E. Lee and Me challenges the deeply-held legends and myths of the Confederacy―and supplies a stunning interpretation of important truths that our nation nonetheless has a troublesome time articulating and accepting.