The Pivotal Civil War Trilogy by Shelby Foote

“Any understanding of this nation has to be based, and I mean really based, on an understanding of the Civil War. … It was the crossroads of our being, and it was a hell of a crossroads.” — Shelby Foote

They sat for years, collecting dust on my bookshelf. Written over the course of three decades and comprising 3,000 pages, it seemed too great a task to tackle. I used to be a voracious reader, though shied away from this trilogy of books. I had read many single-volume works on the American Civil War, but this just seemed like too much of a commitment, and I preferred to read it all at once. Some day I would. Some day I would have the time. That day has just arrived. The dust got too thick, and now I have the time, so I purchased the Kindle version and read it. No dust. Wow. What a read. A master storyteller he is. It reads like a novel, yet doesn’t stray from history. If you’ve ever heard his voice, that of a genteel Southern gentleman, you will hear it in his prose. Learned many things that I never knew – or, maybe, I don’t remember that I knew. Just a great series of books, and I sense, written by a great man. Bittersweet, I felt. I didn’t want to let go.

About the books through my eyes: Without a doubt, The Civil War: A Narrative is the best single work about the American Civil War ever written. From start to finish, it is unparalleled. When I started reading it, I almost put it down. I felt it was too pro-Union for my tastes. I didn’t, though, I kept on. By the end, it felt a little – well, maybe a lot – too pro-Confederate. I suppose that is one thing that makes this book[s] so readable. He simply calls it like he sees it. When taken as a complete verbal painting, it’s just where it needs to be. He takes you to the front lines of savage battle; to the camps of the common soldier; he gets inside of Abraham Lincoln’s White House, as he does Jefferson Davis’s. No incident is too small for him to write about. In fact, some of the parts I most enjoyed were just those kind of nearly lost bits of history – the exploits of cavalry and partisan raiders deep behind the front lines, the wars within the War of the river boats, the tribulations of the civilian populace. A riveting retelling of probably the single most pivotal four years of America’s history. I read reviews, by some others that look at it through the prism of today’s warped Internet sensibilities, that criticize him as a Confederate sympathizer. Shelby Foote was Mississippi-born back when a few veterans of this war were in their last years. He had a relative [at least one] who fought in that war. His home was Memphis, Tennessee. It’s no wonder. In the end, it seems he found the sweet spot, a wonderfully spun picture from above, from within, and from below. A pro-American view that perhaps all can understand. The good, the bad, the ugly. I even think I saw some clever dry humor here and there. Savor it. It’s a helluva read and will stick in your craw.

3-volume box set of 'The Civil War' by Shelby Foote, featuring artwork depicting Civil War battles on the covers.

3 Volume Set || Kindle Edition

The Civil War Documentary by Ken Burns; Featuring Shelby Foote

I would have loved to meet Shelby Foote. Maybe in the next life. If only I had read it sooner, perhaps I would have written him a letter of praise. I guess this is that.

Anyway, I discovered this ode to the man by someone who goes by the moniker ‘Arkansas Traveler’. I have posted it below. Beautiful.

We Owe You, Shelby Foote

Among the pantheon of writers I will never meet, you are at the zenith. Your slow, easy gait of speech seemed always measured, and deliberate. But more than that, there was always cannon smoke coursing through the black muzzle pupils of your eyes. Others had no expectation of their journey, but you forever escorted us down Dante’s varied levels of hell in an air conditined coach.

That casual, almost comical smirk. Did you find that in Memphis? Or was that a gift from Walker Percy? William Faulkner? It suits you. When you brought it out, it portended the coming smack between the eyes—a bit of something extra to a worn, old story we thought we knew. But you held the kicker in escrow.

The pipe! The one you thought you could affect as an exclamation to a story. God bless you, you tried. But you nervously set it down wisely knowing the story was the thing.

But more than all the rest, that sweet voice. I think your mama drew it from your throat, and dragged it a time or two down the Natchez Trace, just to give it that gentle Southern patina of mischevious wisdom.

Thank you, Shelby Foote, for packing your truth, our history in crates of silver. Thank you for packing your story- telling bones in boxes of gold. We are in your debt, sir. We are your heirs. ~~ Arkansas Traveler

“As we lay there watching the bright stars, many a soldier asked himself the question[s]: ‘What is this all about? Why is it that 200,000 men of one blood and one tongue, believing as one man in the fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man, should in the nineteenth century of the Christian era be thus armed with all the improved appliances of modern warfare and seeking one another’s lives?’ We could settle our differences by compromising, and all be at home in ten days.” — unknown veteran lieutenant ~~ One of many poignant quotes from The Civil War: A Narrative.