The Secret Trial of Robert E. Lee
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4.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
1865. The Civil War is over, and the South lies in ruins. But for some people, former slaveholders have not been punished enough. A cabal of powerful men, led by Charles A. Dana, the assistant secretary of war, plot to break the spirit of the South once and for all - by convicting General Robert E. Lee of treason and hanging him like a common criminal.
To this end, they have convened a secret military tribunal in Lee's former home in Arlington, Virginia.
Jeremiah O'Brien of the New-York Tribune, a long-time protÈgÈ of Dana's, is the only reporter allowed to attend the trial. His exclusive reports on this momentous event, and the book he intends to write, will surely make his fortune.
Yet as the trial proceeds, pitting the general against his accusers, O'Brien finds himself torn between his loyalty to Dana, his love for a Confederate spy, and his growing respect and compassion for Lee himself. The young reporter is supposed to be only an observer, but, in the end, it is O'Brien who must evaluate the evidence and determine the true meaning of honor.
Written by New York Times bestselling author and historian Thomas Fleming, The Secret Trial of Robert E. Lee brings to life a fascinating chapter in American history that might well have happened - and perhaps truly did.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian and bestselling author Fleming (The Officers' Wives; When This Cruel War Is Over) poses an intriguing question in his latest historical novel: what if the victorious Union had put Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on trial for treason? The American Civil War ignited passions on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, and there were those especially among the Radical Republicans who favored imposing a harsh peace upon the defeated South. Fleming imagines what might have happened if a cabal of Radicals led by assistant secretary of war Charles Dana had managed to arrange a secret trial of Lee the very symbol of the South. The story is narrated by New York Tribune reporter Jeremiah O'Brien, a prot g of Dana and the only journalist allowed at the trial, who is torn between his loyalty to Dana and his love for the beautiful Sophia Carroll, a former Confederate spy and a Lee family friend. The Civil War is familiar turf for Fleming, and his characters both historical and fictional ring true, as does the dialogue. Fans of counterfactual history and Civil War aficionados especially will enjoy this captivating account of what would have been the trial of the century.
