The Civil War/ American Homer: A Narrative (Modern Library)

Product Information

The Civil War: A Narrative, Tullahoma to Missionary Ridge (40th Anniversaryed.). Alexandria, VA: Time-Life. 1999. ISBN 0-7835-0107-2. This magisterial work is the best book that I've read on the Civil War. Incredibly well researched, but if you're looking for something with a lot of footnotes for your own work or research, this isn't it; however, if you're an American history buff or simply a fan of good writing, you should read these books. But man, prose-wise, when he gives himself literary license, the man can truly open up and GALLOP. To wit:

The Civil War: A Narrative - 3 Volume Box Set: Foote, Shelby

As another example, I have to wonder how the 20th Maine could have held its position on Little Round Top on July 2 had it not been for the stand of the 4th Maine at Devil’s Den, engaging one, perhaps two, Confederate regiments that could otherwise have joined the assault on the Union line. The 4th Maine incurred 140 killed, wounded and captured that day. While Foote has been praised as an engaging commentator on the Civil War, his sympathy toward Lost Cause viewpoints and his rejection of traditional scholarly standards of academic history have seen his work reappraised and criticized, as well as defended, in recent years. [9] C. Stuart Chapman (June 20, 2006). Shelby Foote: A Writer's Life. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p.64. ISBN 978-1-57806-932-3. a b Coates, Ta-Nehisi (June 13, 2011). "The Convenient Suspension of Disbelief". Theatlantic.com . Retrieved July 16, 2018. The total effect is impressive—a massive synthesis of Civil War scholarship as presented by a master of words... Shelby Foote has written a book that, despite weaknesses, will be long considered a major interpretation of the military history of the Civil War... Twenty years of dedicated labor have resulted in a literary masterpiece which places Shelby Foote among those very few historians who are authors of major syntheses... this history will long stand with the volumes of Bruce Catton as the final word on the military history of the Civil War. [44]

This is important particularly because these issues are still alive in the former Confederacy, particularly in the Republican Southern Strategy of racism and resentment starting in 1964, after passage of the Civil Rights Acts and the Voting Rights Act. I have written about that and about the use of Dog Whistle code for White Supremacy and other such issues at Daily Kos, under the name Mokurai, and on dKosopedia, particularly Panabaker, James. Shelby Foote and the Art of History: Two Gates to the City (Univ. of Tennessee Press, 2004)

The Civil War: A Narrative Series by Shelby Foote - Goodreads The Civil War: A Narrative Series by Shelby Foote - Goodreads

His postwar career was varied but inauspicious, including a brief stint as a reporter for a newspaper in Greenville. Later, Mr. Foote said that journalism offered a great grounding in fast writing, "but I don't think one should stay in it too long if what he wants to be is a serious writer." No, despite many Lost Cause shadings, the true tone of The Civil War: A Narrative is of white reconciliation. At the end of Burns’ The Civil War, Foote is given the valedictory, which he uses to quote the Benson letter I excerpted above. While he speaks, we are shown images of old white men in blue and gray, shaking hands and making amends. This is the post-Reconstruction moment where white America decided the war had been a contest of moral equals. You were brave and I was brave; I was brave and you were brave. Now we can all get along. This is the reason Gettysburg is a national gathering place and a popular tourist destination, rather than a national scar. Williams, Wirt. "Shelby Foote's" Civil War:" The Novelist as Humanistic Historian." The Mississippi Quarterly 24.4 (1971): 429–436. Foote edited The Pica, the student newspaper of Greenville High School, and frequently used the paper to lampoon the school's principal. In 1935, Foote applied to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, hoping to join with the older Percy boys, but was initially denied admission because of an unfavorable recommendation from his high school principal. He presented himself for admission anyway, and as result of a round of admissions tests, he was accepted. [13]Fred L. Schultz, "An interview with Shelby Foote: 'All life has a plot'." Naval History 8.5 (1994): 36–39.