Shelby Foote

Shelby Foote
BornShelby Dade Foote, Jr.
(1916-11-17)November 17, 1916
Greenville, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJune 27, 2005(2005-06-27) (aged 88)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • historian
Alma materUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill
SubjectsAmerican Civil War
Notable worksThe Civil War: A Narrative
Spouse
Tess Lavery
​
​
(m. 1944; div. 1946)​
Marguerite "Peggy" Desommes
​
​
(m. 1948; div. 1952)​
Gwyn Rainer
​
(m. 1956)​
Children2

Shelby Dade Foote Jr. (November 17, 1916 – June 27, 2005) was an American writer, historian and journalist.[1] Although he primarily viewed himself as a novelist, he is now best known for his authorship of The Civil War: A Narrative, a three-volume history of the American Civil War.[2]

With geographic and cultural roots in the Mississippi Delta, Foote's life and writing paralleled the radical shift from the agrarian planter system of the Old South to the Civil Rights era of the New South. Foote was little known to the general public until his appearance in Ken Burns's PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990, where he introduced a generation of Americans to a war that he believed was "central to all our lives".[3] Foote did all his writing by hand with a nib pen, later transcribing the result into a typewritten copy.[4][5] While Foote's work was mostly well-received during his lifetime, it has been criticized by professional historians and academics in the 21st century.[6][7][8]

  1. ^ Keri Leigh, Merritt. "Why We Need a New Civil War Documentary". Smithsonian. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mack was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Carter, William C. (1989). Conversations with Shelby Foote. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 0-87805-385-9.
  4. ^ "MWP Writer News (June 28, 2005): Shelby Foote dies at 88". Olemiss.edu. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  5. ^ "At 37:02 Shelby describes what he does after writing by hand". C-SPAN. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
  6. ^ Brockell, Gillian (September 26, 2020). "Re-watching 'The Civil War' During the Breonna Taylor and George Floyd Protests". Analysis. The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference seattletimes.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Huebner was invoked but never defined (see the help page).