The Life and Campaigns of General Lee. By his Nephew,
Edward Lee Childe. Translated from the French by G. Lifting. (Chatto and Windus.)—That the writer should have succeeded in being what he seeks to be, entirely impartial, could hardly be expected. The personal character of General Lee could searcely, indeed,be estimated to highly, and his military genius was without doubt of a very high order, though he can scarcely be acquitted of having once or twice miscalcu- lated his own strength or the strength of his opponents. His biographer unduly depreciates, it seems to ns, the achievements of the Northern Army, which should surely be allowed something more than the credit of overwhelming with vastly superior numbers an enemy with which it could not eompare in valour or in tactical skill. Yet such is the im- pression which the reader carries away from Mr. Childe's account of Lee's later campaigns. Apart from this question, the story is admirably told.
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