Shelby Foote Group Readalong 2022

[Joshism]

Much digital text has been spent on the subject of Shelby Foote's merits as a writer of history, particularly The Civil War: A Narrative. I've only read the books once and that was 25 years ago. Lots of people who feel strongly one way or the other likewise probably haven't read the trilogy in decades.

Rather than continue tired debates about generalities and half-remembered details, let's reread Foote together.

My goal is a chapter per calendar week, starting the first full week of January 2022. I will post thoughts after each chapter.

I'm not intending to microanalyze every detail, but rather consider it from a macro level. Do I enjoy the writing? Does Foote seem biased? Does his description of battles generally align with my modern understanding of those battles? Does he discuss topics that often get overlooked?

Anyone else want to participate?

 

[Bilbobaggins]

I wish time permitted me to do so. I loved Foote in ken burns documentary.

 

[rittmeister]

never read him and only know him from burns but then i'm german after all . if i can get it i'm in.

 

[rittmeister]

never read him and only know him from burns but then i'm german after all

. if i can get it i'm in.

just checked my ebook vault - have them plus shiloh, jordan county and chickamauga and other civil war stories

count me in for a nOOb pov

 

[Daring Drea]

Great project - great idea, thank you @Joshism
I will try to catch up - the first chapter should be doable over Christmas, although I cannot promise to keep up pace with rmthe following chapters ... how many months would we need until finished if we'll read one chapter per month?
It might take years and I'm afraid some of us might be able to discuss things with Shelby Foote himself on Cloud 9 then ... but definitely worth a try!

Thank you @rittmeister for hinting me to this project!

 

[rittmeister]

Great project - great idea, thank you @Joshism
I will try to catch up - the first chapter should be doable over Christmas, although I cannot promise to keep up pace with rmthe following chapters ... how many months would we need until finished if we'll read one chapter per month?
It might take years and I'm afraid some of us might be able to discuss things with Shelby Foote himself on Cloud 9 then ... but definitely worth a try!

Thank you @rittmeister for hinting me to this project!

yeah, i'll probably cheat and read it faster (i want to know how it ends after all )




... and then reread the chapter of the week

 

[diane]

I like this idea! Re-visiting Shelby Foote would be fun, especially in the light of current events. I do think Drea is right - we might want to take bigger bites!

 

[Joshism]

how many months would we need until finished if we'll read one chapter per month?

I've only got the first volume on hand, but the table of contents only show 10 chapters, including Prologue. They're longer than typical chapters. The other two volumes are a little longer I think so I imagine this will last most of the year at the proposed pace.

 

[Joshism]

Correction, now that I have the book in front of me: 8 chapters, including the Prologue. Average of 100 pages per chapter, although the range is pretty wide: from 65 to 125 pages.