Yankee Empire: Aggressive Abroad and Despotic At Home

In 1866, the year after the War for Southern Independence, General Robert E. Lee reflected on the results of the war. Responding to a British historian, he wrote that he feared that the U.S. would now follow the path of all consolidated governments. It would become "aggressive abroad and despotic at home." It was as accurate a prophecy as has ever been made.

"Unfortunately, for the people of the South and the world," write the Kennedys in their latest groundbreaking book, "General Lee's pre...