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I just received Shelby Foote's "The Civil War - A Narrative" and McPherson's "For Cause & Comrades" yesterday and they are amazing books.

Also, it may take me as long as the civil war lasted to read the Shelby Volumes...wow are they huge. I read half of McPherson's book yesterday and it is very informative and read about 80 pages so far (lots to go!) of Shelby's and I can see it is going to be a great experience.

I stopped by the library today and happen to browse the Civil War section and they have a book (the name slips my mind right now) on railroads that contains maps, ect of the railroads during the civil war era from national archives, smithsonian, private collections and so on.

Also, I am obsessed with Sherman for some reason, so I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this book: "Sherman's Civil War : selected correspondence of William T. Sherman, 1860-1865" it is 900+ pages long!

I read Foote's three volumes perhaps 20 years ago. Still fondly remember it. You're going to love it, no doubt.

Hi
The McPherson book i read and recomended was "Battle cry of freedom" wich is a complete history of the ACW and his causes.
Haven´t heard of "For cause and comrades" before. Whats is it about??

Right now i´m finishin Foote first volume and loving it.
But finishing the trilogy is going to take long... AACW reduces my reading time!
Cheers!

If you're looking for the strategies followed in the Civil War ... and if you like this game you probably are...How the North Won by Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones is simply excellent.

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Can somebody post a link for me to buy that Foote's book?
Thanks

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One of the perks of working at the largest university in Norway is easy access to its libraries; since I'm scheduled to visit my in-laws this christmas, perhaps I'll bring Foote along too

Gray_Lensman wrote:Amazon Link

http://www.amazon.com/Civil-War-Narrative-Vol-Set/dp/0394749138/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195641832&sr=1-1

Should qualify for Free Shipping also since it is over $25. Nice price, BTW, I paid $70 at a Barnes and Nobles store. 3 volumes = approx. 3000 pages total

There is no free shipping to Europe... leure:
It cost me more than 18 dollars on shipping to Spain when i bought Foote's Trilogy on amazon.com last summer...
At least the books were cheap (less than 50 dollars for the complete pack)
Is money well spent!!

Cheers

Placed order! Can't wait to get it
Thank you all for your help

If you want to dive deeper into individual battles, I cannot recommend a better author than Stephen Sears. He has four books on Civil War battles (the Peninsula Campaign, Antietam, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg) and they are an amazing read. Other than Foote, he is my favorite Civil War author.

Thanks.
And what about films or animations on ACW? I was thinking to place an additional order so I get something to read and something to watch .

marecone wrote:Placed order! Can't wait to get it
Thank you all for your help

Marecone,

You are going to enjoy Foote's masterpiece.

I couldn't resist . Had to have at least one book on my absolute favorite .

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography by Jack Hurst

For only 11,53$

Ah... time to hide my card from me

marecone wrote:I couldn't resist . Had to have at least one book on my absolute favorite .

Nathan Bedford Forrest: A Biography by Jack Hurst

For only 11,53$

Ah... time to hide my card from me

Shelby Foote, in an interview, told that one of his most memorable moments was when he visited some of Forrest's descendants. He was allowed to hold General Forrest's sword which he waved above his head.

Also, Foote's grave in Memphis lies next to the Forrest family plot where Nathan Forrest is buried.

arsan wrote:Hi
The McPherson book i read and recomended was "Battle cry of freedom" wich is a complete history of the ACW and his causes.
Haven´t heard of "For cause and comrades" before. Whats is it about??

Right now i´m finishin Foote first volume and loving it.
But finishing the trilogy is going to take long... AACW reduces my reading time!
Cheers!

It is about the reason the soldiers fought and were willing to keep fighting. It is based on, and contains many many quotes from, letters from the soldiers. He took a sampling of over 25000 letters an 250 full diaries that he had gathered over the years.

Very interesting, to me, to read what the actual soldiers from all walks of life had to say and why they continued to fight as fiercely and as dedicated as they did with all the death around them.

Read Shelby's three books back in 1980.It started a 27 year love affair with the American Civil war that is still going strong.It got me back then, with my teenage son touring all the civil war sites every chance we got.Was great for keeping him out of trouble.Now doing the same with my teenage grandsons,took them to Gettysburg this past summer for a week.Shelby Foote born 17th Nov.1916 died 27th June 2005 a great writer,I owe that man a lot.

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Gray_Lensman wrote:I have been trying to remember the name of that song, "Battle Cry of Freedom", It would be neat to have it play when you select the USA, and have "Dixie" play when you select the CSA.

I totally agree! that would be a very nice touch.

I think the thing that amazes most about these normal, everyday folk who made up so much of the military on both sides was their willingness to march into near suicide every day.

In "For Cause & Comrades" on page 4-5 is the paragraph that after reading I knew I had to read the rest of this book before moving onto Foote:

"My initial grappling with the question of Civil War soldiers' motivation occurred during the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Others also probed this puzzle at the time. A veteran who became a student of the Civil War after his tour in Vietnam was awestruck by the dedication of soldiers in that earlier conflict. In all his Vietnam experience he had met only one American "who had the same 'belief structure' as the Civil War soldiers." In Vietnam "the soldier fought for his own survival, not cause. The prevailing attitude was: do your time...keep your head down, stay out of trouble, get out alive." How different was the willingness of Civil War soldiers to court death in a conflict whose casualty rate was several times greater than for American Soldiers in Vietnam. "I find that kind of devotion...mystifying." When General John. A. Wickham, who commanded the famous 101st Airborne Division in the 1970s and subsequently rose to Army Chief of Staff, visited Antietam battlefield in the 1980s he gazed at Bloody Lane where several Union assaults had been repulsed before finally breaking through. "You couldn't get American soldiers today to make an attack like that," he marveled."

After reading that I guess I knew I was going to read on about why they faught so hard and dedicated right up until the bitter end in many cases. I also really enjoyed reading the unedited notes from soldiers on the field everyday. You really get a feel for their personality and who they were since the letters are left unedited for content and grammer.

Gray_Lensman wrote:I'm in the process of reading Foote's Narrative, but I don't think I'll wait 20 years to reread it... Probably more like 3 to 5. It's a virtual gold mine.

You guys talked me into it, I just picked it up. I hope I'm able to finish it before I'm no longer around, that's a lot of reading, that's why I like a lot of pictures

Mr. Foote's books are also available at Audible.com. I have been listening during my commute. Price is not bad if you subscribe to one of their plans.

Tom...

I have been completely engrossed in Foote's novels. I am already half way through the first book in a couple of days. My ability to read, and ready quickly, and fully grasp what is being said and remember it almost photographically is a God send an the same ability I possess that allowed me to spend very little time on homework through college and graduate with a 3.8. I don't have a complete photo-graphic memory but my recall and memory amazes even myself sometimes but has been a huge benefit throughout my life. I can literally read a technical manual and rarely have to refer back to it for information I have read.

I have sat down in the evening telling myself I was going to read 20 pages or so and go to bed. 100 pages later I have to force myself to put it down. Foote's novels are just pure genious. I have learned more about the Civil War between McPherson and Foote already than I have ever known. I will be honestly bummed when I am done reading these because his manner of writing and describing has me feeling like I know these people personally, especially Lincoln and Davis as well as many of the other main players.

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Foote also points out that the American people did not appreciate Lincoln as a brilliant writer until he gained recognition as such in Europe.

Of course, the story is also well known how Lincoln's Gettysburg Address flopped at the actual Gettysburg Battlefield Cemetery dedication ceremony and was only seen as an oratorical masterpiece after the fact (especially by some newspaper editorialists).

The perception of Lincoln as "bumbling stooge" (and worse) when in fact, in hindsight, most historians view him as America's greatest president--something to keep in mind as we in the modern era trash our own Presidents, one after the other. They have a very hard job. Let's keep things in historical perspective. Let's cut them some slack, shall we?