i was either bruce lee's brother or a descendant of robert e. lee. [laughter] whenever i got really patriotic, robert e. lee. [laughter] that is how i got into college. [laughter] i used that opportunity in those four years to allow my mind -- i loved studying. it was one of those places where you can read books come interact with professors -- read books, interrupt with professors. none of my class is had more than 10 students at a time. they could interact with you. that was the most welcome ing part of the college experience. >> you said you are here on a part-time or temporary basis. you do not want to be mayor. you want to have your old job back. it pays more. there are already several people running for mayor. you have until august to make a decision. what if some of your powerful friends came to you and said they did not like to was leading in the polls invite you to run, would you consider it then? >> they have already done that. as powerful as they are, i have been very polite in telling them that i think it is neat to have a mayor go back to

when robert e. leerode out nine mile road on sunday june 1st, 1862, to the assumed command of the army of northern virginia, there were i will tell you very few people who were quite optimistic about prospects. there were a few in the regiment but there were not many. he had that great virginia family name of west point, a model soldier in many ways, but he commanded in western virginia in the fall of 61 and between lousy weather and even worse subordinates there was a failed campaign so that kind of hung over his reputation. actually, he was temporarily exiled if you will to south carolina and georgia to build coastal defenses until march of 1862 when jefferson davis need a military advisers and she chose lee and joined davis. what was critical for the next march, april and may was these two men developed mutual respect and trust for each other, whereas davis had so many problems with johnston, if you ask johnston he would have problems with jefferson davis, johnston withheld information from davis and

when robert e. leerode out nine mile road on sunday june 1st, 1862, to the assumed command of the army of northern virginia, there were i will tell you very few people who were quite optimistic about prospects. there were a few in the regiment but there were not many. he had that great virginia family name of west point, a model soldier in many ways, but he commanded in western virginia in the fall of 61 and between lousy weather and even worse subordinates there was a failed campaign so that kind of hung over his reputation. actually, he was temporarily exiled if you will to south carolina and georgia to build coastal defenses until march of 1862 when jefferson davis need a military advisers and she chose lee and joined davis. what was critical for the next march, april and may was these two men developed mutual respect and trust for each other, whereas davis had so many problems with johnston, if you ask johnston he would have problems with jefferson davis, johnston withheld information from davis and

robert e. lee was sent down to defend charleston staying at the mills house. fire broke and out, he had to leave and the family offered to put him out here so this is where robert e. lee stayed the short time he was here and the defenses of charleston most importantly i think is that when he was in charleston he bought his famous horse traveller and began growing the famous white beard comes of the house is open to the public and it's a very charming mix sample of the architecture. >> for more information on book tv's recent trip to charleston south carolina, does it

but up until that time, no, robert e. lee was kind of an also ran. >> let me ask you both a question then. um, he's the successful counteroffense i general, the defender of the capital. as we march toward the fall of 1862, why did robert e. lee change a winning formula and decide to go on the offensive and march into maryland? steve, let's start with you. >> well, he really didn't have much choice. after a second bull run, he could go four directions, literally, the four treks of the compass. -- directions of the compass. and if he went to washington, he had not the arms or the heavy artillery to besiege washington. and if he went back south, he was admitting that his plan, his offensive plan had failed. if he went west into the shenandoah valley, he could supply his men, but he would just be marking time, and he would lose the advantage, the initiative. so he ended up going north where there was a lot of food and a lot of -- they thought they would raise marylanders to join the confederate cause which didn't turn out to be t

was a minnesota state senator and she recommended the book call of duty the sterling nobility of robert e. lee and there's a passage in that book that read slavery as it operated in the pervasively christian society which was the old south was not an adversarial relationship founded on racial animosity and in fact it grabbed on the whole not contempt but over time mutual respect and this produced a mutual esteem of the sort that ollie's results when men give themselves to a common cause and the credit for the startling reality must go to the christian faith right yeah i'm pretty sure the slaves were abused and sold off and forced to work for free and poor living conditions didn't have a lot of respect for their owners and the fact michele bachmann actually put that book on a must read list that wasn't of the state to this woman has a worldview to justify slavery period and it's not just a one off pledge that she didn't read well and offer a one off comment to a writer the truly sad part about her views as if there are other people out there and share them too so there's this rich christian his

i don't think so i don't recall you know abraham lincoln compromising with jefferson davis or robert e. lee it took a few years but he kicked their plots right across the country was in a compromise i don't recall f.d.r. compromising with adolph hitler or dwight eisenhower for that matter belgium would became president he was he was f.d.r.'s prime general in world war two we needed churchill churchill that was the guy who compromised who was neville chamberlain remember he came probably don't i go most people aren't old enough to remember but the story we all know it never chamberlain came back to his meeting with hitler of the oh we can have peace in our time we've worked out a compromise you know. it wasn't it was churchill who said no i'm not going to compromise i don't recall l.b.j. compromising over medicare i don't recall reagan compromising about his tax cuts or is spending binge now to attack top tax rate from seventy four percent on the twenty eight percent and just said the democrats say if you don't like it tough obama needs to read some different biographies apparently kearns go

when robert e. leerode out nine mile road on sunday june 1st, 1862, to the assumed command of the army of northern virginia, there were i will tell you very few people who were quite optimistic about prospects. there were a few in the regiment but there were not many. he had that great virginia family name of west point, a model soldier in many ways, but he commanded in western virginia in the fall of 61 and between lousy weather and even worse subordinates there was a failed campaign so that kind of hung over his reputation. actually, he was temporarily exiled if you will to south carolina and georgia to build coastal defenses until march of 1862 when jefferson davis need a military advisers and she chose lee and joined davis. what was critical for the next march, april and may was these two men developed mutual respect and trust for each other, whereas davis had so many problems with johnston, if you ask johnston he would have problems with jefferson davis, johnston withheld information from davis and

he became so enamored he test himself to robert e. lee. his unofficial bag carrier. he even made eggnog, as we know. and so when he returned to london in the spring of 1863 he was an unofficial spokesman. yet his brother who shared his opinion, both members of the liberal party, liberal in terms of attitude, life, and politically from a pro north. so he had in a microcosm the macrocosm of america. >> one of the interesting things in your book, which i was really unaware of was the number of british people who fought in the american civil war on both sides, sometimes the same person, on two sides. generally not. why did britain's in list in the american civil war? >> well, it is one of those answers that run the gamut. first you have those who were genuinely led by ideology. we have instances of young men who joined the north because they wanted to help free the slaves. they wanted to fight for the north to maintain the union coming from england. but there were those who saw slavery as the issue. even more interestingly and perhaps more counter to italy there were you

he was then seduced by southern charm and became so enamored he attached himself to robert e. leend even made eggnog on christmas day. when he returns to london in the spring of 1873, he was -- 1863, he was an unofficial spokesman for the cause, and his brother who shared his political opinions, both members of the liberal party, both liberal in terms of their attitudes to modern life was pro-north, and so he had a microcosm, the macrocome of that. >> host: one of the interesting things in your book which i was unaware of is the number of british people who fought in the american civil war on both sides, sometimes the same person fought on two sides, but generally not, i guess, but why did britains enlist in the american civil war? >> guest: well, it's one of those answers that run the gamet. first and i think most interestingly, you had those led by ideology, and we have instances of young men who joined the north because they wanted to help free the slaves. actuallythere were those who saw slavery as the issue. more interestingly and counterintuitively to today, there were young

. >> the monument to robert e. lee, which we say is kind of an opposite monument, was carved by a frenchman, not a virginian, which caused a lot of controversy at the time in the 1880s and 1890s when it was built. there have been major disputes, you know, over the washington monument-- took over 15 years to build. there were incredible problems with that project. >> sreenivasan: why? >> well, because of its scale, its form, that nobody really wanted an obelisk. >> sreenivasan: another debate adding to the fray-- king's expression. some have said he looks too stern and that his arms shouldn't have been crossed. but the foundation said lei was thorough. he spent many days in his studio with walls covered in photographs of king to get a sense of his spirit. lei spoke at monday's opening. >> ( translated ): i tried to convey m.l.k.'s passion through his eyes, facial expression, and stance at this work-- a passion that encourages people's hope for the future. >> sreenivasan: "washington post" art critic phillip kennecott ca

and he became so enamored, he attached himself to robert e. lee and was his unofficial bag care carrier, even made eggnog for them. so when he returned to london in the spring of 1863, he was an unofficial spokesman for the southern cause, and yet his brother, lord frederick catch dish, who shared his political opinion -- they were both liberal in terms of their attitudes to modern life and liberal politically -- were pro-north. so he had in britain a microcosm, the macrocoz m of -- >> host: right. you know, one of the interesting things in your book which i was unaware of was the number of british people who fought in the american civil war on both sides, sometimes the same potential fought on -- person fought on two sides, but generally not, i guess. why did bitons enlist in the american civil war? >> guest: well, it's one of those answers that run the gamut. first, and i think most interestingly, you have those genuinely led by ideology. and we have instances of young men who joined the north because they wanted to help free the slaves. very fe

they did the same thing with franklin later on in the 19th century, they did with robert e. lee and with everybody. and so these forgeries are still floating all over the country. worse for people who exploited others in the name of making money off of george washington. and the first of those was p.t. barnum. a lot of people don't realize p.t. barnum made his name, made his original fortune off of george washington. but he did in the 1830's is he won off to kentucky and found an elderly slave named joyce have. he bought her and brought her back to the east coast and coached her, told her you are now 161-years-old. and you were george washington's nanny, and you're going to get up on stage and in new york city and philadelphia and other major cities and you were going to talk about what it was like to be with george on the farm in mount vernon so he coached her with stories like the cherry tree and other stories from parson weems, put her on stage and then had her give her should be all over and over. she worked her 12 hours a day, 16 hours a day up to 20 hours a day. eventually

they did the same thing with franklin later on in the 19th century, they did with robert e. lee and with everybody. and so these forgeries are still floating all over the country. worse for people who exploited others in the name of making money off of george washington. and the first of those was p.t. barnum. a lot of people don't realize p.t. barnum made his name, made his original fortune off of george washington. but he did in the 1830's is he won off to kentucky and found an elderly slave named joyce have. he bought her and brought her back to the east coast and coached her, told her you are now 161-years-old. and you were george washington's nanny, and you're going to get up on stage and in new york city and philadelphia and other major cities and you were going to talk about what it was like to be with george on the farm in mount vernon so he coached her with stories like the cherry tree and other stories from parson weems, put her on stage and then had her give her should be all over and over. she worked her 12 hours a day, 16 hours a day up to 20 hours a day. eventually