Shelby Foote (1916–2005,) fully Shelby Dade Foote Jr., was an American historian, novelist, and short-story writer. He was best known for his works treating the U.S. Civil War and the American South.
Born in Greenville, Mississippi, Foote attended the University of North Carolina for two years and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Foote established his name with his second novel, Follow Me Down (1950,) which gives multiple views of an actual violent murder trial. Love in a Dry Season (1951) narrates the changing fortunes of the South from the 1920s to World War II. Shiloh (1952) is a historical novel dealing with the Civil War.
Foote is now best known for his detailed history, The Civil War: A Narrative (1958–74,) which consists of three volumes—Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958,) Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963,) and Red River to Appomattox (1974.) Foote appeared as a narrator and commentator in Ken Burns’s acclaimed 11-hour television documentary The Civil War (1990.)
Foote also wrote the novel September, September (1977; TV film: Memphis, 1991,) about the South in crisis, and he edited Chickamauga and Other Civil War Stories (1993.)
Foote was renowned as an old-fashioned writer—he wrote with an antique pen that he dipped in ink after every three or four words.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Shelby Foote
Of all the passions of mankind, the love of novelty most rules the mind. In search of this, from realm to realm we roam. Our fleets come loaded with every folly home.
—Shelby Foote
Topics: Fashion
And I really do think that the difficulty of research makes it more real to you than punching a thing to find out how many men were killed at this particular action.
—Shelby Foote
Topics: Difficulty
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