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13th out of 419 books
—
423 voters
Shiloh
by
Shelby Foote
This fictional re-creation of the battle of Shiloh in April 1862 fulfills the standard set by his monumental history, conveying both the bloody choreography of two armies and the movements of the combatants' hearts and minds.
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
April 9th 1991
by Vintage
(first published 1952)
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In 1952, Shelby Foote, wrote this historical novel before he turned to narrative history in the grandest style in his magisterial three volume account of the civil war. In this slender novel, Foote, writes in six segments an account of the battle as it progresses from the view-point of three confederates and three union soldiers. A near confederate victory became a federal victory when union reinforcements arrived after the first day of battle. It captures the fog of war and the intensity of com...more
I was introduced to this book almost 50 years ago, when I was at a summer program for teenagers at the University of Rhode Island. I cannot say today that I "enjoyed" it, for after having just read it now, I do not see how I could have understood much of it.
It is hard to fathom that Foote's fictionalized battle of Shiloh appeared almost 60 years ago But Foote had been in World War II and he was writing for a generation that had lived through that war. Looking back on the umpteen war novels I hav...more
It is hard to fathom that Foote's fictionalized battle of Shiloh appeared almost 60 years ago But Foote had been in World War II and he was writing for a generation that had lived through that war. Looking back on the umpteen war novels I hav...more
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Shelby Foote’s novel Shiloh was published in 1952, but Civil War aficionados will notice a striking technical similarity to Michael Shaara’s 1974 Gettysburg novel The Killer Angels. Since Foote belatedly gained his largest audience after his participation in Ken Burns’ Civil War series in 1990, many readers will have experienced Shaara’s novel first. Both recreate the events of major Civil War battles through shifting, multiple narrators, with Shaara’s focused on the broader historical record, r...more
Shelby Foote the author, not to be confused with his cousin, Horton Foote, screenplay author and playwright, was unknown to me until the Civil War series on PBS. He impressed me as charming, intelligent and knowledgeable so I was pleased to find his book Shiloh recently at a thrift store. This story of the Battle of Shiloh, named for a local chapel, is told in the first person by a both Yankee and Rebel soldiers who participated in the battle. Ironically, Shiloh means heavenly place but this pla...more
I read this via audiobook and it is one of the best audio tracks I've listened to (and I've been on audible for 4 years so I've heard a lot). I think there are 10 different actors involved in recreating this first disturbing battle of the Civil War. Just Shelby Foote's southern drawl is perfect for an audiobook.
I think it might be kind of confusing without the different voices to keep things straight. It was almost like listening to a play.
Foote says he wrote this book so that the battle itsel...more
I think it might be kind of confusing without the different voices to keep things straight. It was almost like listening to a play.
Foote says he wrote this book so that the battle itsel...more
The essence of Shelby Foote's book Shiloh is summed up by one of his narrators, Corporal Blake, who speaking to the men in his squad says,"books about war were written to be read by God Almighty, because no one but God ever saw it that way. A book about war, to be read by men, ought to tell what each of the twelve of us saw in our own little corner. Then it would be the way it was - not to God but to us." Shiloh is definitely a "man's-eye" view of the battle - every chapter consisting of first p...more
Ordinarily I am particularly fond of historical novels, the Civil War being one of my favorite subjects. Unfortunately my enjoyment of this book was prevented by the fact that I read it on an e reader. This book absolutely requires holding a map in one hand and the book in the other. Unless you want to flip back through the book ONE PAGE AT A TIME (which takes forever) you might as well forget about it. Also, the fact that each chapter is from the point of view of individual soldiers, unless you...more
Shelby Foote's "Shiloh: A Novel" is a unique telling of the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862 during America's Civil War. Told from the perspective of six different soldiers from both north and south, the reader can glimpse into lives of Civil War soldiers heading into battle. The sense of urgency, the mounting fear, and the human and animal carnage are vividly portrayed. It is difficult to walk away from reading this book without mental images of battlefields full of dead soldiers, mass graves, an...more
Read this for Marshall Co.'s (Indiana) "One Book/One Town" Event. They have several activities during the month of April taking place at libraries throughout Marshall Co., including the book discussions for this book.
I found the book somewhat slow. Written in 1952 it is a classic, but I found that some of the geography descriptions were confusing and I had to keep going back to the map inside the front cover. For students of the Civil War, it will make more sense. I also found you really had to...more
I found the book somewhat slow. Written in 1952 it is a classic, but I found that some of the geography descriptions were confusing and I had to keep going back to the map inside the front cover. For students of the Civil War, it will make more sense. I also found you really had to...more
I listened to this on cassette. This is the story of the battle of Shiloh as told by fictional participants from both sides. Ordinary foot soldiers who experienced the horror and chaos of the battle describe the movements of the troops and the decisions of the generals. The most memorable part was a description by a canoneer from Minnesota. He fought for several hours on the first day, but then simply lost his nerve and walked off the field. He hid below a bluff on the Tennessee River for the re...more
If you like Shelby Foote the man, his slow Southern drawl, his humor and scholarship all wrapped up in one, you'll like this book. Truth and beauty at their single-hearted best. Books like this make my heart beat faster, they take my breath away.
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I saw this book as I was browsing the online bookstore. having read Foote's "The Civil War" trilogy twice, I was aware of how good of a writer Mr. Foote was. I believe this was one of his very first works.
The book is told from the perspective of a number of different combatants, on both sides of the conflict. The stories are gleaned, according to the author, from real life events as recounted in various historical narratives taken from accounts of the persons whose viewpoint the author express...more
This short Civil War novel from 1952 about the battle of Shiloh resembles the work of Michael and Jeff Shaara in one sense: its sharing of perspectives across the battle lines and the story as told through the eyes of those going through it. Unlike the Shaaras, Foote doesn't use the generals as narrators, but rather some of the more obscure figures from aides to foot soldiers, and quite a few more narrators. Although I like the device, this book reads more like "As I Lay Dying" by Faulkner than...more
This story was set at the battle of Shiloh which at the time was the bloodiest battle ever fought by the United States. The story follows several people in both the Union and Confederate armies and gives a description of the two days of battle from different view points. It was a fascinating story and very gripping. The one complaint that I had was that I had a hard time following all of the characters because there were so many. I also felt that the author may have been a little biased to the s...more
I read this book for Civil War class and it was pretty okay. It follows a civil war battle "the battle of shiloh" and each chapter is narrated by a different general, colonel, soldier, sharp shooter, etc. It's cool that is shows the battle from so many different perspectives. I thought it was kind of boring because its an old book about the war but thats just me. It was the opposite of a page turner and i don't recommend it unless you plan on falling asleep.
Some of the stories in the book are p...more
Some of the stories in the book are p...more
This is the novel that launched a 1,000+ pages of prose. If you have not read Foote's The Civil War, or any of its components that have been published since the 1990s, and want to find out if it is worth the time and effort to do so you could do worse than to start with this work. The novel mainly recounts the action of the two day battle, and provides us the thoughts of the common soldier and junior officers. The chaos and uncertainty of the battle are aptly portrayed and at the end we know, al...more
This book follows several soldiers through the battle of Shiloh. There are officers and infantry and cavalry represented, each with a different road to follow through the battle - each touching some famous point or person on the field. For me, the most profound character was the young man who abandons his post to cower below the bluff. His is a truly transformational story and has stayed deeply on my mind. To be small and insignificant but to do frightening yet great things for others when the p...more
Rating 3.5. I enjoyed this book, which covers the 1862 battle of Shiloh in Mississippi. It's a slim volumem broken into seven parts, the first and last narrated by the same character, the remainder narrated by other characters, each character at a different portion of the battlefield, each with a diverse job to do. Although I enjoyed the construction of the book in its seven parts because it gave me so many more views of the battlefield and the soldiers, it also failed to every get me very close...more
I read my first accounts of the Civil war some time ago. Stephen Crane's classic "The Red Badge of Courage" when I was quite young and Stephen Sears account of Antietam "Landscape Turned Red" when I was on attachment from the Australian Army to the US Army Office of Military History in 1986. My counterpart, a Civil War buff, kindly took me to the battlefield, organised and early entry with the Parks Service and we walked the battle throughout that day. That was probably one of the most poignant...more
Fiction. Soldiers of all ranks from both sides tell their stories of the two day battle of Shiloh, fought in Tennessee in 1862. The Unon armies were commanded by U. S. Grant, assisted by Buell, whose army arrived for the second day. The Confederates were commanded by Albert Sidney Johnston, who was mortally wounded in the battle and succeeded in command by Beauregard. Sherman and Forrest were also present, and figure strongly in the stories. Recorded Books. Several readers, including the author....more
Interesting book about a pivotal battle in the Civil War. Told from the viewpoint of individual soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Forerunner of the historical fiction of The Killer Angels.
Foote's point is that battle plans, while in theory are perfect, never work out as formulated. People are only aware of their own small parts of the battle, and a battle, by definition is chaotic and totally unstructured. Events are totally unpredictable, and plans must be quickly changed on the fly.
Foote's point is that battle plans, while in theory are perfect, never work out as formulated. People are only aware of their own small parts of the battle, and a battle, by definition is chaotic and totally unstructured. Events are totally unpredictable, and plans must be quickly changed on the fly.
A great book by a great writer. Written in 1952 it is surprisingly really, REALLY graphic. The book tells the story of the battle of Shiloh in April 1862. Instead of following one character through the entire book each chapter is told from the point of view of a different person (or in one case a squad) from the Union and Cofederate armies. It usually takes me 1.5 to 2 weeks to read a book, but this one I finished in just over three night. Great stuff.
I finished reading Mr. Foote's book a few hours before visiting the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park in Georgia. Although I did not plan it that way, I could not have picked a more fitting occasion. As my friend Mike and I walked the grounds of the battlefields at Kennesaw Mountain and nearby Cheatham Hill, Shiloh was very much on my mind. Mr. Foote's first person accounts of the action in and around Shiloh, Tennessee in the spring of 1862 brought the protagonists to life. Although Sh...more
Shelby Foote is not only an amazing writer but he captures the romance and spirit of the world as it was during the civil war. He writes as if he were standing on a hillside watching a battle unfold or sitting in the camp of either army just listening to the discourse of the soldiers. If you want to experience the civil war and its players this book and all his books are so full of detail you have to read them.
A little bit Faulkner, a little bit Huck Finn, a lotta bit Stephen Crane... I was set to give it four stars until Mr. Foote poisoned the novel with the idea that the South lost because they were just... too... damn... noble to be victorious. Eww.
Still, if you want to get inside the minds of the soldiers, and be a witness to the great moments of this bloody battle, you could do a lot worse. Recommended for Civil War buffs.
Still, if you want to get inside the minds of the soldiers, and be a witness to the great moments of this bloody battle, you could do a lot worse. Recommended for Civil War buffs.
The story of this battle is told in the first person by a number of soldiers on both sides, revealing the horrors of war, one man at a time. However, I couldn't possibly feel any more horrified that young men sacrifice their lives for their country than I did before I started the book. I kept waiting for some kind of bigger picture, some reason to be there; didn't get one.
Foote breaks the battle down into its parts, taking different characters to describe their specific role and dealing with other issues of the war like slavery and secession, abolitionism and union. Foote covers the few days before and after the battle drawing its prelude drama and its aftermath in the cost of human lives.
Foote basically pens seven chapters, each chapter from the first person perspective of a different soldier (there are six characters in total- he begins and closes the book with the same character). The characters are all lower-ranked soldiers, though we get an idea of the generals involved through their interactions with the low-rankers, notably Sherman, Johnston, and Forrest. I think the approach heightens the sense of what must have been a very confusing battle where no single individual had...more
A good historical novel that reminded me quite a bit of The Red Badge of Courage. Though this book definitely was less about any particular person and more about the battle in general.
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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 wa...more
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