GDG- Rantings of a Civil War Historian > Alan Nolan Passes Away

[Margaret D. Blough]

Tom,

I admired Alan Nolan and his work, especially on Lee which broke new ground, but I would consider Thomas L. Connelly's 1978 book, "The Marble Man: Robert E. Lee and His Image in American Society," to be the first major work not only to assess Lee more objectively, especially to distinguish between Lee, the human being, and the Lee cult created after his death by the Lost Causers, but to spur additional scholarship in the area.  In 1995, Connelly also co-wrote with Barbara Bellows, the absolutely fascinating book of essays , "God and General Longstreet: The Lost Cause and the Southern Mind." Connelly was William Garrett Piston's adviser on Piston's doctoral dissertation at the University of South Carolina.  Piston told me that it was Connelly who suggested Longstreet, particularly the post-war attacks on him, as a topic to Piston for Piston's doctoral dissertation which led to Piston's 1990 book, "Lee's Tarnished Lieutenant: James Longstreet and His Place in Southern History."  It's
 all actually a bit ironic since Connelly, whose primary area was the war in the Western theater, particular the Army of Tennessee, doesn't come across in those works as being any great fan of the hotshot from the Army of Northern Virginia sent to the AOT.

Regards,

Margaret
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: "Tom Ryan" <pennmardel at mchsi.com> 

> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> Thanks to Fred for posting Eric's tribute to Alan Nolan. Alan's book Lee 
> Reconsidered was the first major work to assess Lee more objectively and 
> bring him back down to earth rather than floating up among the saints and 
> stars. Mr. Nolan unabashedly stated his views on Civil War issues, and had 
> earned a reputation as a maverick, albeit a likable and respected one. 
> 
> Was unaware that John Simon had passed (as Eric also mentioned). Prof. 
> Simon is the person responsible for the multi-volume collected works of 
> Ulysses S. Grant, a project that is still ongoing I believe. The Grant 
> collection is a well-deserved memorial to John Simon, a man who has made a 
> great contribution to the Civil War community during his lifetime. 
> 
> They both deserve our thanks, and will be missed. 
> 
> Tom Ryan 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com 
> [mailto:gettysburg-bounces at arthes.com]On Behalf Of Fred Johanson 
> Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 9:28 AM 
> To: 'GDG' 
> Subject: GDG- Rantings of a Civil War Historian > Alan Nolan Passes Away 
> 
> 
> Esteemed GDG Member Contributes: 
> 
> 
> 
> For those who may have missed the announcement, Alan Nolan died on Saturday. 
> 
> http://civilwarcavalry.com/?p=813 
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