Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee was a man of fierce calculation and dogged determination, graduating at the top of his class at West Point and becoming a hero under Winfield Scott during the Mexican-American War. When whispers of secession turned into roars a gravely divided Lee, a brutal slave holding Virginian loyalist who had sworn an oath of loyalty to the union, resigned as an officer to command the Confederate Army. He would come to be known as the bloodiest General in American history and immortalized as a symbol for the lost dream of the south. Lee's entry into the "American Experience" catalog feels like a glossed over recollection of the American legend's life and could have used a more fleshed out treatment. Also voice actors, a crucial element to these films, seem miscast and not as commanding as someone with Lee's presence would demand. Nonetheless, this is still an extremely well written and captivating account of a man of both extreme ruthlessness and sorrow.