The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society Book

This book charts Robert E. Lee's rise from famous general to an almost cultish figure after the Civil War and to the present day. The book does not argue whether Lee deserves this status, but instead charts the making of a myth.

After the Civil War, Lee was admired in the South, but not overly adored. That adoration was reserved for Stonewall Jackson. However, after Lee's death, ex officers of his army started making the myth of Lee as the perfect man. In part, they were trying to justify how a "good cause" could lose the war, and to cover their own wartimes blunders. Thus, Lee was raised to almost deific status, while Longstreet, one of this lieutenants, was denigrated and blamed for the South's losses.

This cult was maintained by twisted retellings of history and threats among the Confederate memoir writers following the war. Any attempt to show Lee as anything but perfect was viciously attacked in the media by the other officers, and the offenders' deeds during the war were excoriated.

This is a fascinating study of how myths are made.