Kat with a K

American Experience: "Robert E. Lee"

I've been reading Gone with the Wind - and just saw the movie for the first time - so I've been on something of a Civil War kick, and was excited to see that American Experience is nicely in synch with me. Their recent episode on Robert E. Lee was particularly well done. With a historical personality so closely associated with one event - in this case, of course, the war - there's a fine line to walk between providing enough context for the person's life and making it all about the war. This episode did a good job of giving enough information on the war to make Lee's involvement intelligible without letting that one aspect take over. I didn't really know anything about Lee's personal life before watching this, but he was quite an interesting guy, and now I really want to know more about his wife. (Anyone know if there are any good biographies of her?) You can watch the episode online here, and if you want more Civil War stuff, they're rebroadcasting their episode on Grant this coming Monday. Check your local listings!