Rating: 
Summary: MASSIVE!
Review: If you really want to know what happened during the years of 1861-1865 you must read these three volumes
Rating:
Summary: The one must have on a deserted island
Review: Three large volumes on the Civil War filled not with dry facts, battle dates, and boring politics, but alive with rich characters, fasinating anecdotes, and lovingly detailed synopsis of battles both military, and political. Anyone who is interested in the realities of America today should read this history. Anyone who wants a "good read" ,a spell binding narrative, or a terrific story will enjoy this book. One of the tests of a good book is whether the length is appropriate your sorry to close the covers. At three volumes this book is too short
Rating: 
Summary: Hardly a literary masterpiece
Review: If this is what our literature has come to, it's little wonder our young people don't read more.A sample of Foote's convoluted writing, from volume 3: "By assigning Gordon's division to Breckinridge, who coupled it with his own, he gave the former Vice President a post befitting his dignity and put thirty-five-year-old Robert Rodes - a native of Lynchburg, which he had just helped to save from Hunter's firebrands, and a graduate and one-time professor at V.M.I., whose scorched ruins he viewed sadly, and no doubt angrily as well, after marching his veterans past that other V.M.I. professor's grave - in charge of the remaining corps, composed of his own and Dodson Ramseur's divisions; Ramseur, a North Carolinian, promoted to major general the day after his twenty-seventh birthday early this month, was the youngest West Pointer to achieve that rank in Lee's army."
("Civil War," vol 3, pp 446-447) One is led to consider the possibility that Mr. Foote was paid by the word! I doubt not that Foote's knowledge of the war far exceeds mine, and can neither dispute nor disagree with his accounting of battle facts, even though his pro-Confederacy (or are they anti-Union?) sympathies are evident. All in all, Southall's "Lee's Lieutenants" is better structured and better composed, a much easier and more enjoyable read. At least, that's the way it seems to me.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone interested in the Civil War
Review: The author brings in so many details, but puts these details very effectively together to keep the story moving along. The author uses a language which seems natural to the age and writes of the personalities with genuine admiration and affection as if they had been to dinner with him on Sunday.
Shelby Foote's interesting writing style of an interesting yet tragic event in our history is a remarkable accomplishment. Every American should have these books as part of their home library.
Rating:
Summary: The most complete work ever on the War
Review: Shelby Foote's classic multi-volume history of the War Between the States will always stand as THE must-read. Foote gives a balanced and fair account of the heroics and failings of both sides and a vivid account of each battle that makes the reader feel part of the action. Sure to stand the test of time, Foote's works are as invaluable to history and students of the war as the Official Records and the many officer's memoirs.
Rating:
Summary: foote's feat
Review: this is a three volume set covering all of the civil war and its pre and post war world. I enjoyed them very very much. I found all to be lucid, well planned, very readable, and thoughtful. Of all the books I have read of the war, this set is hands-down my favorite. Don't let the three books bother you, they will be read very very quickly. If this set was all you read of the civil war, you would be fine in you appreciation of the war and what it means to our country, even today. Far more then just a clash of arms, rather as a look into our nation's "birth pains". Many of the founding fathers saw this war coming. It was inevitable and sadly needed, you simply cannot do better then Foote's masterworks.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: There is no doubt this narrative history of the Civil War can be wordy but the payoff for reading this work is more than worth it. The strength of this book is the way that Foote makes the characters of the War come alive. Foote's accounts of Lincoln as he prosecuted the war, administered a national government and coped with his wife's mental illness will cause anyone to realize that he was indeed a great man and President. Much of his descriptions of Lincoln come from newspaper reporters of the day or other persons who were present and Foote's ability to meld all that together makes for vivid pictures of the man. I felt like he dealt with each "side" in a balanced way and I didn't discern any editorializing. Just darn good reading and not only is it my favorite book on the Civil War but one of my favorite books in general.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Civil War Narrative
Review: If you want to learn all about the Civil War, these three books are the perfect place to start. Depending on how interested you are in the war, this trilogy will be either the three books you will read to learn about the war or the starting point.
Foote does an outstanding job of bringing together the political, social and military stories of this era, and also does a better job than some others of keeping a balance between the battles in the west and those fought in the east.
Foote and Bruce Catton have written the best general histories of the war. Foote is from the South and Catton from the North, so some people will tell you that you should read one or the other, depending on the point of view you're more interested in. I think they both did a great job of presenting unbiased views of the war. You really can't go wrong with either of these guys. First, they got the facts right. Second, they both wrote about the war in a way that made it come alive. These are not dry, boring histories.
If you finish these books you may want to also check out some of Catton's, and if you still want to read more, James McPherson has written some excellent books on the war too. "Battle Cry of Freedom," is another outstanding narrative account of the war.
Rating:
Summary: Classic old-style history
Review: Foote has written an impressive narrative history of the entire war. The most distinctive element is his novelist's eye for characters. Unlike most accounts of campaigns and battlefields, he gets inside the leaders' heads in the way a novelist would.
Though he includes some material from soldiers' diaries and the like, the account remains elite-centered. As other reviewers correctly note, this means that the role of African-Americans is underemphasized (but not absent). For this side of the war, I'd recommend James McPherson.
Much more so than most histories, Foote emphasizes events outside Virginia, including campaigns in the trans-Mississippi. This is valuable, since the war was won (and lost) in the West.
Foote clearly sides with the South, which has the potential to annoy this Northerner. Fortunately, his leanings appear more as symmpathy for the people involved than as strong bias or polemic.
Finally, this trilogy really is long, with each book near 1000 pages in smallist type. I found it congenial to take a break between books, each of which is self-contained.
Rating:
Summary: humbaby
Review: If you are looking for lots of footnotes and in-depth scholarly analysis of the Civil War, Shelby Foote's history of the Civil War is definately NOT for you. On the other hand, if you want the best narrative history of the war, this is it! Historians could learn much from Foote's wonderful storytelling. Some reviewers have noted that this is predominantly a battlefield history, which is true. If you have plans to visit a Civil War battlefield site, read through the account of the battle before you go or while you are there and your visit will be greatly enriched. The other area where these books excel is in painting portraits of the important figures in the war. Those who have seen the Ken Burns PBS documentary will quickly see how heavily it drew upon these books. Consisting of three large volumes, it may be a bit intimidating for some to tackle this series, however I found it was well worth it. From start to finish, these books are outstanding and a joy to read!
|
