Shelby Foote - 1916
|
Houston High School in Houston, Mississippi
Read other essays on Shelby Foote written by Tennessee students Abdifatah Sahal and Kimberly Bryant. Shelby Foote was born in Greenville, Mississippi, November
17, 1916. He is a novelist and playwright but is best known for his remarkable three-volume narrative, The Civil War (1958-74). I. Upbringing, Education, and Professional Life
Foote attended the University of North Carolina (1935-37) and served in both the Army and the Marine Corps during World War II. He began reading seriously and got his literary
education through his friendships with various writers. II. Literary Works The Civil War The first volume opens with Jefferson Davis' resignation from the United States Senate
and Abraham Lincoln's departure from Springfield for the national capital. The story is told entirely from the point of view of the people involved in it. The writing of this volume
kept Foote busy eight hours a day, seven days a week, for several years. This volume contains all the great battles, from Bull Run through Shiloh, the Seven Days, Second Manassas to Antietam and Perryville in the fall of 1862.
Volume II The army of the Potomac attempts to take Richmond, which resulted in much bloodshed at Fredericksburg. Grant's relentless efforts against Vicksburg showed President Lincoln that
he had found a general to fill the position. With Vicksburg finally under siege, Lee again invades the North. Volume III
In 1954, Shelby Foote began this monumental work with these words: "It was a Monday in Washington, January 21; Jefferson Davis rose from his seat in the Senate…" In the third
and last volume of this vivid history, he brings to a close the story of four years of turmoil and strife that altered American life forever. "Red River to Appomattox" opens with the
beginning of the two final, major confrontations of the war: Grant against Lee in Virginia, and Sherman pressing Johnston in North Georgia. This ends a unique achievement already recognized as one of the finest histories ever
fashioned by an American author, a narrative of over a million and a half words which recreates on a vast and brilliant canvas the events and personalities of an American epic: The Civil War. III. Works by Shelby Foote
Tournament (1949) IV. Shelby Foote on the Web
Volume 1
Follow Me Down (1950)
Love in a Dry Season (1951)
Shiloh (1952)
Jordan County (1954)
September (1978)
http://www.SHS.Starkville.K12.MS.US/mswm/MSWritersAndMusicians/writers/Foote.html
V. Sources
"The Civil War: A Documentary." American Heritage. Dec. 1987:14,18 This essay was submitted by students of Beverly Doss, a teacher at Houston High School in Houston, Mississippi.
Foote, Shelby. The Civil War (book flaps)
Grolier Encyclopedia. 1997 ed.