Lee’s Lieutenants. By Douglas Southall Freeman. Collector’s Edition. Easton Press. Norwalk, 1991.

Douglas Southall Freeman was an American historian whose most famous works focused on fellow Virginians: Robert E. Lee and George Washington. He won the Pulitzer Prize in Biography twice for these contributions. Yet perhaps his most lasting work is Lee’s Lieutenants: A Study in Command. Published in the early 1940s, the massive work recounts Robert E. Lee’s military choices and leadership strategies through the Civil War. The work became hugely popular for its details and insights into leadership, reminding readers of Lee’s effectiveness as a military commander. In fact, the work became particularly popular among U.S. military command during WWII. Freeman was eventually asked to do a speaking tour for American forces in Europe and Japan at the end of the war. This led to close friendships with Dwight Eisenhower and others who read Lee’s Lieutenants religiously. It remains a classic of military history and leadership strategy. No military collection is complete without Lee’s Lieutenants.

This set of the collector’s edition is in fine condition. Three volumes in full leather, finely gilt stamped. Raised bands. Gilt spine labels. Text blocks fine. Gilt edges. Silk more endpapers and bookmarks sewn in. Laid into each volume is a blank bookplate.

A fine collector’s set of Lee’s Lieutenants.