Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters

In this epistolary biography, Pryor uses Robert E. Lee's letters as a launching pad for essays that discuss his life story and military record . . . Lee's correspondence is well-written and revealing, and Pryor complements it with intelligent insight and analysis. - The New York Times

Pryor has taken an icon and given us the soul of a complex man and his turbulent age.
--The Wall Street Journal

Elizabeth Pryor's magnificent Reading the Man forever buries the tired assumption that the real Robert E. Lee can never be found. Her exhaustive research and beautiful prose recover the many layers of Lee's being.
--Peter Carmichael, Virginia Magazine of History and Biography

An orthodox, critical, and engaging biography. . . . [Pryor] impressively captures Lee's character and personality.
--The Boston Globe

Pryor moves onto important historical and interpretive terrain with a far more discerning and critical eye than most of her scholarly or popular predecessors.
--The New Republic