Shelby Foote





Shelby Foote

Author profile


born
November 17, 1916 in Greenville, Mississippi, The United States

died
June 27, 2005

gender
male

genre


About this author

Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. was an American novelist and a noted historian of the American Civil War, writing a massive, three-volume history of the war entitled The Civil War: A Narrative. With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the Old South to the Civil Rights era of the New South. Foote was relatively unknown to the general public for most of his career until his appearance in Ken Burns's PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990, where he introduced a generation of Americans to a war that he believed was "central to all our lives."



Average rating: 4.35 · 6,656 ratings · 573 reviews · 44 distinct works
The Civil War
4.63 of 5 stars 4.63 avg rating — 1,791 ratings — published 1963 — 16 editions
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The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort...
4.44 of 5 stars 4.44 avg rating — 1,494 ratings — published 1958 — 21 editions
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Shiloh
3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 avg rating — 834 ratings — published 1952 — 14 editions
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The Civil War, Vol. 3: Red ...
4.58 of 5 stars 4.58 avg rating — 663 ratings — published 1974 — 23 editions
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The Civil War, Vol. 2: Fred...
4.57 of 5 stars 4.57 avg rating — 567 ratings — published 1963 — 16 editions
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Stars in Their Courses: The...
4.46 of 5 stars 4.46 avg rating — 281 ratings — published 1994 — 4 editions
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The Correspondence of Shelb...
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4.03 of 5 stars 4.03 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1996 — 2 editions
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The Beleaguered City: The V...
4.18 of 5 stars 4.18 avg rating — 96 ratings — published 1995 — 2 editions
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Love in a Dry Season
3.54 of 5 stars 3.54 avg rating — 94 ratings — published 1951 — 6 editions
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Follow Me Down: A Novel
3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 avg rating — 70 ratings — published 1950 — 9 editions
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More books by Shelby Foote…
The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort... The Civil War, Vol. 2: Fred... The Civil War, Vol. 3: Red ...
The Civil War (3 books)
by
4.5514950166112955 of 5 stars 4.55 avg rating — 4,515 ratings
The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort... The Civil War: A Narrative ... The Civil War: A Narrative ... The Civil War: A Narrative ... The Civil War: A Narrative ... The Civil War, A Narrative,... The Civil War. A Narrative:...
The Civil War: A Narrative (9 books)
by
4.429400386847195 of 5 stars 4.43 avg rating — 1,551 ratings
The Civil War: A Narrative:... The Civil War: A Narrative:... The Civil War: A Narrative:... The Civil War: A Narrative:... The Civil War: A Narrative:... The Civil War: A Narrative:... The Civil War: A Narrative:...
The Civil War: A Narrative, 40th Anniversary Edition (14 books)
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4.241379310344827 of 5 stars 4.24 avg rating — 116 ratings
“A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.”
Shelby Foote

“The point I would make is that the novelist and the historian are seeking the same thing: the truth – not a different truth: the same truth – only they reach it, or try to reach it, by different routes. Whether the event took place in a world now gone to dust, preserved by documents and evaluated by scholarship, or in the imagination, preserved by memory and distilled by the creative process, they both want to tell us how it was: to re-create it, by their separate methods, and make it live again in the world around them.”
Shelby Foote, The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville

“They took it for more than it was, or anyhow for more than it said; the container was greater than the thing contained, and Lincoln became at once what he would remain for them, “the man who freed the slaves.” He would go down to posterity, not primarily as the Preserver of the Republic-which he was-but as the Great Emancipator, which he was not.”
Shelby Foote, The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville

Polls

59810
American Civil War - Military Series Selection




Recently, the History Book Club conducted a Military Series Poll. The reason that we did this was because we are launching a Military Series of book discussions similar to how we conduct the Presidential Series at the HBC.

The American Civil War received the most votes from the group membership. Therefore, the first Military Series discussion will focus on the American Civil War.

Therefore we are now voting for the first Military Series selection from books which were all nominated by group members. Killer Angels was already completed by the group so that book was not added to the list for voting purposes. Just as an FYI: this poll took me forever to put together because there were so many group member suggestions and recommendations. We wanted to make sure that we included "all of them". That is why this poll is so long.

So take your time and make sure to vote; because if a book does not get at least one vote; it will be relegated to the bottom of the list. The book which garners the most votes and comes out on top will be discussed beginning in February 2012. Bryan Craig will be the Assisting Moderator leading this book discussion.

Choose and vote for one book. Vote as soon as possible because the first book will be launched in February. Don't lose out.

Note:

If you do not see your favorite book about the American Civil War on this list; then just comment or pop me a note and I will immediately add it to this poll.

You can always change your vote at any time; so nothing is lost. There are some books which have been nominated by the same author; however, skip over those if the particular author does not suit you and vote for your favorite or for one you or others might want to read.

Before making your selection, please try to look up your choice and make sure it really is a book you are interested in or you think others would be; do not be lured in by the title. Also, check out the author and what others have said about the book before you (reviewers who you trust). Then of course, make your selection.

And if you do not see your favorite, just contact me and I will add it to the poll.

Regards,

Bentley

 
  35 votes, 19.9%

 
  24 votes, 13.6%

 
  22 votes, 12.5%

 
  10 votes, 5.7%

 
  8 votes, 4.5%

 
  7 votes, 4.0%

 
  6 votes, 3.4%

 
  6 votes, 3.4%

The Last Full Measure by Jeff ShaaraJeff Shaara - This book was just recommended by a group member. It is the third book in a trilogy which began with the bestseller Killer Angels. In the same vein, this is an historical novel/fiction account - not non fiction but if anything like Killer Angels -- impeccably done.

The Last Full Measure
 
  5 votes, 2.8%

 
  5 votes, 2.8%

Lincoln by Gore VidalGore Vidal - This is an historical fiction selection

Lincoln.
 
  4 votes, 2.3%

 
  4 votes, 2.3%

 
  4 votes, 2.3%

 
  3 votes, 1.7%

 
  3 votes, 1.7%

 
  3 votes, 1.7%

 
  3 votes, 1.7%

 
  3 votes, 1.7%

 
  3 votes, 1.7%

 
  2 votes, 1.1%

 
  2 votes, 1.1%

 
  2 votes, 1.1%

The Training Ground  Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848 by Martin DugardMartin Dugard
- This is not related to the Civil War but to the time earlier in history when they fought together as brothers in the Mexican War.

The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848
 
  2 votes, 1.1%

 
  2 votes, 1.1%

 
  2 votes, 1.1%

 
  2 votes, 1.1%

 
  1 vote, 0.6%

The Battle Of The Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864 by Gordon C. RheaGordon C. Rhea - This book was just recommended by a group member.

The Battle Of The Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864
 
  1 vote, 0.6%

 
  1 vote, 0.6%

 
  1 vote, 0.6%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

 
  0 votes, 0.0%

Covered With Glory  The 26th North Carolina Infantry at Gettysburg by Rod Gragg - This is another latecomer nominated by a group member.

Covered With Glory: The 26th North Carolina Infantry at Gettysburg
 
  0 votes, 0.0%

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