The Civil War: A Narrative

Well, I made it through. It took 14 months, but I read the whole thing. The reading is fairly demanding: so much information is packed into Foote's concise text that I often found I could only read around 4-5 pages before stopping to absorb what I had just read. Since the trilogy is over 2,500 pages long, the overall effect is rather monumental.

Before reading this, I knew little more about the Civil War than the average man (or woman) on the street. I knew the names of a few of the really big players; I had visited the Gettysburg battlefield as a kid (and memorized Lincoln's famous address delivered there); I had heard of Sherman's march to the sea; I knew about the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln's assassination. That was pretty show more much it. The rest was mostly just a blur.

Reading this trilogy changed that, of course, but more than just improving my knowledge and understanding of this period of American history, I believe this has somewhat changed my understanding of America itself. In the first half of the 1960s, my parents, who were both from New Jersey, lived in Richmond, VA, the capital of the Confederacy. This coincided with the centennial remembrances of the War, as well as much of the Civil RIghts Movement. (Foote would have been in the process of writing this work for the whole of that period as well.) My parents later reported to me that Richmond had definitely not forgotten what had happened 100 years earlier. They were still bitter, and took it out on Northerners by mostly shunning them. There were only a very few people who accepted my parents socially, and that only towards the end of their 6 years there. Although the more than half a century that has passed since then has seen a significant reduction in the resentment levels of most people in the South, I can now understand this phenomenon better. And in spite of the fact that the Civil War as a lived event about which people still have strong feelings is now fading into the distant past, I think understanding that time can shed some light on our current situation as well.

Some have complained that Foote was a Confederate sympathizer. This is not untrue, and stems from his roots. Among other things, Foote's family was friends with the descendants of Nathan Bedford Forrest. As a child Foote had been allowed to hold that general's sword. Confederate lore was in his blood, and it shows through slightly in these books. Overall, however, the balance he achieved is remarkable. In later years, Foote told a story of how, after he had written the trilogy, he had told somebody in the Forrest family that he considered the War to have had only two real geniuses: Forrest and Abraham Lincoln. The response he got was, "We have never been very fond of Mr. Lincoln."

Since almost everybody now can agree that the "correct" side won the Civil War, it is, I believe, useful to at least understand something of what the other side thought and felt, as well as the perspectives of the "good guys". After reading this trilogy, I almost feel as though I have lived through that tragic war myself, on both sides. So many people, so many places, so many stories. It is immersive, in the way the best narrative history can be. And this is surely among the best histories that have ever been written in English, a classic which likely will endure for centuries. show less

I couldn't find a listing for just Volume 3: Red River to Appomattox which I finished this year. Last year I read the first two volumes. This is the last volume which covered Grant arriving in Washington to take up duties as commander—and looking like a scruffy nonentity who was offered a room in the attic of Willard’s Hotel until the clerk saw his name—to the death of Jefferson Davis (Foote is a southerner after all). Really great work—it’s taken me a couple of years to read it.There I think Foote focused on the South more, but not to the extent of being unfair. I was amazed that the death of Lincoln was treated relatively perfunctorily--but it may be that I was disappointed because I had been so wrapped up in the show more assassination details and the plot details (to kill Seward and Stanton too) in Goodwin's Team of Rivals, which I had just read, that this one seemed decidedly minimilist. And the book ended with Jefferson Davis going back to Mississippi--actually it ended with the death of Davis many years later as if only then was the war really over! I gathered there was considerable admiration for Davis on Foote's part. Me, I'd never considered Davis as a person at all. I had considered Alexander Stephens (partly because that was my husband's name). Something else I read awhile ago (possibly McPherson) detailed his friendship with Lincoln when they were both together in Congress many years before.I'm not one for military details, but I found Foote's focus on "mistakes" of southern generals like Hood and Johnson (always forget whether it was Johnson or Johnston--I mean Joseph Johnson) interesting. They seemed to do little right while Sherman did everything right and I sense there was even some affection for him on Foote's part. And I was surprised that he didn't make as much as other histories I've read of the possibility of generals not surrendering and continuing a guerilla war for years. I thought he downplayed Nathan Bedford Forrest too, in that regard but also just as a Southern hero.Still I'm no Civil War expert and no matter how hard I try, it's the people and the human events that engage me more than the battles and the strategy. Foote is very good at that. If Red River to Appomattox ended with the death of Jefferson Davis, it began with Grant's coming to Washington and being taken for a run-of-the-mill nonentity general when he asked for a room at Willard's hotel--until he signed his name. I'd not have persisted through all the battles if his dealing with people and his ability to conjure up memorable vignettes were not so good. show less

I have read these volumes (I have two sets of them for some reason) and also have the Audible.com versions, and I enjoy listening to them. Foote has created an historical tour de force, but even more impressive for me is the sheer artistry of his narrative. His command of the language is so good it sometimes obscures the narrative. You can be distracted from the message by the beauty and creativity of the medium. It's all good. You can go back and get the facts with a reread or somewhere else. But you only get this kind of literary thrill in great literature. Like many others I was first introduced to Foote in the Ken Burns documentary series on the Civil War. Next to the music, (Bernice Johnson Reagon for example), discovering Foote show more was the best part of that very good treatment. I've only read one of Foote's novels, but his whole body of work is on my bucket list. A magnificent story teller. show less

The Author's of "1066 and All That" said very justly that Civil Wars usually are between two sides the "Wrong but Romantic, and the Right but Repulsive!" I feel Mr. Foote has fallen prey to the wrong but romantic in his book, but that it is a necessary part of any ACW buff's library. It's readable, and slightly pro-Southern, but is a masterly synthesis of a vast catastrophe. I find myself dipping into it often.

Volume 1 Fort Sumpter to Perryville. This first of three volumes of Shelby Foote’s renowned history of the Civil War is 811 page and it reads like every bit of that length. At times it was difficult to get through because of the incredible detail of all the battles of all the wars included. It’s often difficult to keep up with personnel. The generals alone take a database to separate those fighting for the North from those fighting for the South. The best parts of this first volume are the personal stories. I wish Foote had spent more time telling his readers about these young soldiers and their families. The deaths are so monumental that at some point in the volume, the reader becomes numb to them, and that’s too bad. One thing show more this first volume does do is convey the absolute tragedy of the U.S. Civil War. There can’t be a more tragic part of our history except maybe slavery itself. show less

I'm going to keep this simple. Reading this three volume set is one of the most important things I have done in my life. You cannot understand America until you understand the Civil War. And this is THE source to read/listen to in order to gain that understanding.

The best work on the American Civil War. If Foote didn't cover it in these three volumes, it probably wasn't important. Not only do we get the facts, but a very fine narrative. A masterpiece of historical writing.