Shelby Foote

Shelby Foote was a highly regarded American novelist and military historian, best known for his three-volume history of the Civil War titled "The Civil War: A Narrative." Foote was born in Mississippi in 1916 and his life and writing paralleled the significant shifts that occurred in the American South from the agrarian planter system of the Old South to the Civil Rights era of the New South.

Foote's extensive knowledge and unique storytelling ability made him an excellent historian, and his trilogy on the Civil War is considered a remarkable literary and historical achievement. The three volumes of "The Civil War: A Narrative" provide a clear and intelligent account of the challenging and tormenting four-year period that had a profound impact on the American way of life. Foote's work is highly respected, and his trilogy is considered an essential addition to American historical collections.

For most of his career, Foote was relatively unknown to the general public until he appeared in Ken Burns's PBS documentary "The Civil War" in 1990. Through his appearances in the documentary, Foote introduced a generation of Americans to the Civil War, a conflict that he believed was central to the lives of all Americans. Foote's contributions to American history and literature were recognized in 2005 when he was interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, beside the family plot of General Forrest. Foote passed away at the age of 88, leaving behind a lasting legacy as a master storyteller and a leading historian of the American Civil War.