Summary Of The Civil War A Narrative By Shelby Foote

In The Civil War: A Narrative, Shelby Foote tells about the different perspectives of both sides of the war, ranging from Fort Sumter to Perryville. Foote explains in depth the perspectives of those that experienced the war, as well as how their lives were impacted. Growing up, Foote was always interested in writing, but it wasn’t until later in life that delved into nonfiction. He was part of the newspaper, and was mainly interested in english and history, mainly writing short stories and poems. He only began to write The Civil War: A Narrative when the publishing company Random House contacted him and asked that he write a short comprehensive book about the Civil War for the Civil War’s centennial anniversary. Being unable to follow the restrictions

With this book Foote recounts the events of the civil war in a chronological time period, from the Union and Confederate point of views, as well as impacts of both. His book uses quotes, conversations, statistics, and other means to pass on information about the civil war. Each of the 3 books tells of a period between two major battles, going in chronological order from each battle to the next, recounting the impacts of the battle, along with the reactions of the people affected by the battle. The first book spans from Fort Sumter to Perryville, the second from Fredericksburg to Meridian, and the last book from Red River to Appomattox. Despite never actually being qualified to be a historian, Foote received an education in the writing arts, which further propelled his interest in writing and literature. He relied primarily on secondary resources, and received criticisms for this. Foote was raised in the South part of the United States, and strived to avoid any bias towards the South. Many authors condemn Foote’s writing, claiming that his works are similar in quality to a college-dropout, emphasizing his lack of

Only passing attention is given to such topics as industry and agriculture,” showing that, while this book does cover several things such as battles and campaigns, it doesn’t completely cover the entirety of the civil war. Williams later goes on and points out that Foote “provided some of the best and shrewdest portraits of personalities yet written.” stating while he still has a viewpoint, its a very minor and forgivable one. Another review by James R. Renneisen praised Foote for his descriptive writing saying that “His battle descriptions are pungent as cannon smoke. The imaginative reader will hear the roar of the batteries and the singing bullets,” emphasizing Foote’s descriptive