Topic: Robert E. Lee

Lincoln's close call with electoral defeat

'Decided on the Battlefield' by David Alan Johnson tells how Abraham Lincoln nearly lost it all.

Bill O'Reilly's 'Killing Lincoln' continues to stir controversy

Citing errors, some Lincoln-related historic sites are refusing to carry the book, although O'Reilly accuses critics of nitpicking. 

Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln" is "Lincoln Lite"

Bill O'Reilly's thriller, "Killing Lincoln," gives us a Lincoln cleansed of all controversy and complexity.

Grant’s Final Victory

Charles Bracelen Flood offers a fascinating coda to a remarkable life in this brisk, well-told history of the final months and days of Ulysses S. Grant.

The one truly great – and truly humble – presidential memoir

Ulysses S. Grant may not be remembered as our best president, but his memoir is often cited as the best of all presidential writings.

Michele Bachmann: What do her favorite books tell us?

A list of Michele Bachmann's favorite books includes one that "startles" an interviewer.

Top 5 conservative holidays

Commemorating a day to call attention to a political cause has long been a tactic of liberals and those further out on the left, but that's not to say that conservatives haven't tried to come up with their own holidays. Here are our top five.

Fort Sumter cannons sound again: the Civil War 150 years later

Fort Sumter marked the start of the Civil War, with Confederates shelling it on April 12, 1861. Today, the cannon rolls still reverberate in a country that remains at peace, but torn by ideological divides.

The war that made us 'we'

150 years later, the Civil War's nature and impact may finally be seen with clear eyes.

KKK leader on specialty license plates? Plan in Mississippi raises hackles.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans want to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general who subsequently joined the Ku Klux Klan, on some Mississippi license plates in 2014.

Reader recommendation: The Lees of Virginia

Monitor readers share their favorite book picks.

Home sales down. But six cities defy housing gloom.

Home sales plunged in July and housing prices may dip again. But in six metropolitan areas, the housing picture is far brighter: Home values are rising and median prices are already well ahead of their peak during the housing bubble. Is your city on the list?

Letters to the Editor – Weekly Issue of July 19, 2010

Readers write in about the US Civil War and Africa's agricultural promise.

July 4 is important -- but so is July 3

Two events on July 3, 1863 matter as much to human rights as July 4, 1776.

McDonnell Confederate history storm: slavery, treason, and true Southern courage

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell’s controversial proclamation of Confederate History Month should help us remember the South’s rebellion for what it really was.

Slavery vs. Confederate History Month: ripe for political point-scoring

After restoring Confederate History Month in Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell amended his proclamation to decry slavery. Both the left and the right have used the occasion to score political points, sometimes twisting the historical record to their own ends.

Civil War Wives

The lives of three prominent Civil War-era women illustrate the drama that took place off the battlefield.

Reflections on Arlington Cemetery – Sen. Kennedy’s final resting place

Presidents, generals, and Supreme Court justices are there. But mostly, it's ordinary servicemen and women who served their country without public acclaim.

Food prices ease, but thriftier shopping habits remain

The slow economy has sustained a trend to home-cooked comfort food.

The Obama family on the move

Verbal energy: Surrogates and other placeholders

We know candidates can't be everywhere at once, but we could use a better term for their stand-ins on the campaign trail.

In US, historical revision challenges memorials to South's heroes

Recent moves seek to modify statues and plaques to reflect racist past.