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Bruce Catton

Born

in Petoskey, Michigan, The United States

October 09, 1899

Died

August 28, 1978

Genre

History

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Catton was known as a narrative historian who specialized in popular histories that emphasized the colorful characters and vignettes of history, in addition to the simple dates, facts, and analysis. His works, although well-researched, were generally not presented in a rigorous academic style, supported by footnotes. In the long line of Civil War historians, Catton is arguably the most prolific and popular of all, with Shelby Foote his only conceivable rival. Oliver Jensen, who succeeded him as editor of American Heritage magazine, wrote: "There is a near-magic power of imagination in Catton's work that seemed to project him physically into the battlefields, along the dusty roads and to the campfires of another age."

Bruce Catton Catton was known as a narrative historian who specialized in popular histories that emphasized the colorful characters and vignettes of history, in addition to the simple dates, facts, and analysis. His works, although well-researched, were generally not presented in a rigorous academic style, supported by footnotes. In the long line of Civil War historians, Catton is arguably the most prolific and popular of all, with Shelby Foote his only conceivable rival. Oliver Jensen, who succeeded him as editor of American Heritage magazine, wrote: "There is a near-magic power of imagination in Catton's work that seemed to project him physically into the battlefields, along the dusty roads and to the campfires of another age."

Bruce Catton was born in Petoskey, Michigan, but spent most of his boyhood in Benzonia. He was the son of a Congregationalist minister, who accepted a teaching position in Benzonia Academy and later became the academy's headmaster. As a boy, Bruce first heard the reminiscences of the aged veterans who had fought in the Civil War. Their stories made a lasting impression upon him, giving "a color and a tone," Catton wrote in his memoir, Waiting for the Morning Train (1972), "not merely to our village life, but to the concept of life with which we grew up ... I think I was always subconsciously driven by an attempt to restate that faith and to show where it was properly grounded, how it grew out of what a great many young men on both sides felt and believed and were brave enough to do."

Catton attended Oberlin College, starting in 1916, but he left without completing a degree due to the outbreak of World War I. After serving briefly in the U.S. Navy during the war, Catton became a reporter and wrote for various newspapers: the Cleveland News (as a freelance reporter), the Boston American (1920–24), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (1925). From then until 1941, he worked for the Newspaper Enterprise Association (a Scripps-Howard syndicate), for which he wrote editorials, book reviews, and served as a correspondent from Washington, D.C.

At the start of World War II, Catton was too old for military service and, starting in 1941, he served as Director of Information for the War Production Board and later held similar posts in the Department of Commerce and the Department of the Interior. This experience as a federal employee prepared him to write his first book, War Lords of Washington, in 1948. Although the book was not a commercial success, it inspired Catton to leave the federal government in 1952 to become a full-time author.

In 1954 Catton was one of four founders of American Heritage magazine, and served initially as a writer, reviewer, and editor. In the first issue, he wrote:

We intend to deal with that great, unfinished and illogically inspiring story of the American people doing, being and becoming. Our American heritage is greater than any one of us. It can express itself in very homely truths; in the end it can lift up our eyes beyond the glow in the sunset skies.

In 1959 Catton was named senior editor of American Heritage, a post he held for the rest of his life.

Bruce Catton died in his summer home at Frankfort, Michigan. ...more

Combine Editions
Bruce Catton’s books

Average rating: 4.3 · 22,305 ratings · 1,043 reviews · 79 distinct works • Similar authors

	A Stillness at Appomattox 4.35 avg rating — 5,314 ratings — published 1951 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Coming Fury by Bruce Catton, E.B. Long 4.29 avg rating — 2,276 ratings — published 1961 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mr. Lincoln's Army 4.29 avg rating — 2,184 ratings — published 1951 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Glory Road 4.39 avg rating — 1,723 ratings — published 1952 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Never Call Retreat by Bruce Catton, E.B. Long 4.33 avg rating — 1,640 ratings — published 1965 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Terrible Swift Sword: The Centennial History of the Civil War Series, Volume 2 4.35 avg rating — 1,526 ratings — published 1962 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Grant Takes Command 1863-1865 4.36 avg rating — 1,761 ratings — published 1969 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Civil War by Bruce Catton, James M. McPherson 4.08 avg rating — 1,309 ratings — published 1960 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union Side of the Civil War by Bruce Catton, Lewis Gannett (Editor) 4.33 avg rating — 887 ratings — published 1955 — 40 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Grant Moves South, 1861-1863 by Bruce Catton, Lloyd Lewis 4.43 avg rating — 746 ratings — published 1960 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Bruce Catton…

Series by Bruce Catton

Army of the Potomac (3 books)
by

Bruce Catton

4.34 avg rating — 9,220 ratings

The Centennial History of the Civil War (3 books)
by

Bruce Catton,

E.B. Long

4.32 avg rating — 5,442 ratings

Quotes by Bruce Catton

“A certain combination of incompetence and indifference can cause almost as much suffering as the most acute malevolence.”
― Bruce Catton

17 likes

“Bear in mind, now, that most of this work was done by men who had no intention whatever, when they enlisted, of making war to end slavery. Slavery was killed by the act of war itself. It was the one human institution on all the earth which could not possibly be defended by force of arms, because that force, once called into play, was bound to destroy it. The Union armies which ended slavery were led by men like Grant and Sherman, who had profound sympathies with the South and who had never in their lives shown the slightest sympathies with the abolitionists. But they were also men who believed in the one great, fearful fact about modern war--that when you get into it, the guiding rule is that you have to win it.”
― Bruce Catton

7 likes

“In the 1860s the leaders of the cotton belt made one of the most prodigious miscalculations in recorded history. On the eve of the era of applied technologies, in which more and more work is done with fewer people and less effort, they made war to preserve the day of chattel slavery - the era of gang labor, with its reliance on the same use of human muscles that built the pyramids. The lost cause was lost before it started to fight. Inability to see what is going on in the world can be costly.”
― Bruce Catton, Waiting for the Morning Train

7 likes

See all Bruce Catton's quotes »

Polls

Ulysses S. Grant Poll

This poll will examine the choices for the Ulysses S. Grant reading selection which will be the next President covered in the Presidential Series. The order for the Presidents selected was determined by the group membership.

This selection will begin on October 4, 2010 and will continue for three months (October, November and December). This discussion will be led by Bryan. Bryan has an extraordinary background and will be a great moderator to lead this discussion. He has assumed the responsibilities for the Presidential Series reads and will be leading these book discussions.

We have added all of the books nominated on the Ulysses S. Grant thread and a few others. However, if you do not see your favorite book 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. Some of the Grant books deal with only a certain period of his life, some may be multi-volume (if so- I have added both separately), some deal with other topics too; some are all encompassing, others deal with specific events in Grant's life or presidency and others are by the man, himself.

Before making your selection, please try to look up your choice and make sure it really is a book you are interested in; 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.

Bentley

Jean Edward Smith

9 votes, 29.0%

by Frank J. Scaturro

4 votes, 12.9%

Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant Volume 1 by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Grant

Ulysses S. Grant
VOLUME I

4 votes, 12.9%

Bruce Catton

3 votes, 9.7%

Joan Waugh

2 votes, 6.5%

by William S. McFeely

2 votes, 6.5%

by Brooks D. Simpson

2 votes, 6.5%

Grant Moves South 1861-1863 by Bruce Catton

Bruce Catton
BOOK II

1 vote, 3.2%

by Newt Gingrich

THIS IS AN ALTERNATE HISTORY SELECTION

1 vote, 3.2%

by Charles Bracelen Flood

1 vote, 3.2%

by Edward Longacre

1 vote, 3.2%

by Geoffrey Perret

1 vote, 3.2%

by Michael Korda

0 votes, 0.0%

The Generalship of Ulysses S. Grant (Da Capo Paperback) by J.F.C. Fuller

by J.F.C. Fuller by Ulysses S. Grant

0 votes, 0.0%

by Horace Porter

0 votes, 0.0%

Captain Sam Grant/1822-1861 (Classic Biography of Ulysses S. Grant, Vol. 1) by Lloyd Lewis

by Lloyd Lewis
BOOK I

0 votes, 0.0%

by Josiah Bunting

0 votes, 0.0%

Never Call Retreat (Gingrich and Forstchen's Civil War Trilogy) by Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich

THIS IS AN ALTERNATE HISTORY SELECTION

0 votes, 0.0%

Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant Volume 2 by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Grant

Ulysses S. Grant
VOLUME II

0 votes, 0.0%

by Brooks D. Simpson

0 votes, 0.0%

31 total votes

12 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Seasonal Read...: Civil War	60	244	Oct 11, 2009 11:42AM
The History Book ...: 5. KILLER ANGELS (HF) ~ SECTIONS - 4. CHAMBERLAIN + 5. LONGSTREET - (122 - 142) (02/01/10 - 02/07/10) ~ No spoilers, please	39	64	Feb 08, 2010 04:49PM
The History Book ...: GRANT TOC AND SYLLABUS	27	65	Oct 06, 2010 10:07AM
Explore World War...: The Union	6	12	Feb 28, 2011 08:01AM
Glens Falls (NY) ...: * What makes good writing, for YOU personally?	55	11	Mar 17, 2011 03:09PM
The History Book ...: Military Series: BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM: THE CIVIL WAR ERA - BIBLIOGRAPHY ~ Spoiler Thread	39	107	Jul 24, 2012 07:48AM

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Bruce Catton’s Followers (175)

Bruce Catton

Combine EditionsBruce Catton’s books

Series by Bruce Catton

Quotes by Bruce Catton

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Bruce Catton’s books