From John Brady’s interview on Booknotes:

“There is a quality of desperation in this religious search. It has, to me, more the aura of someone who is looking for religion not out of fervor, but out of fear … These prayers are all pretty much of the quality that, `Dear God, if you will help me through this, if you will make me better, if you will give me a victory in this, I will be the best foot soldier you could ever want in your army.' There's usually a quid pro quo in Lee's prayers, and I think that he was trying to make a deal with God, much as you'd make a deal with someone in order to get a political victory. I think that was Lee's nature. I think that was the essence of Lee to the end: trying to manipulate, trying to manage people, trying to have his way with them….“