American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

Gentlemen,

General Schulte's latest review has reminded me I've been meaning to ask you all for your opinions on the matter of Shelby Foote's "The Civil War: A Narrative" trilogy. I had never read these, so when I saw book two at less than half the cover price I decided to pick it up.

I've only read a few chapters, but so far I am very disappointed. I have picked up some tidbits I wasn't aware of, or at least seen some things from a new angle (which I always enjoy), but I find his writing very cumbersome. Several times I would get lost in a sentence and have to go back and re-read it just to figure out what he had started to say.

I finally figured out the problem when I decided to start counting the words in his sentences. I've heard that a good rule of thumb is to have less than 20 words per sentence, at least on average. The next time I came across a confusing sentence I counted the words: 64. Not too bad. Then I came across two more with 73 words. So far, the longest sentence I've found contained 124 words!

Now, I've been accused of being long winded. I admit some of my posts do tend to be a bit on the long side. But this seems a bit ridiculous to me.

For those of you who've read these books (or tried to read them), is it just me or could Foote have used a better editor?


Your humble servant,
Gen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

David W. Mallory
ACW - General, Chief of the Armies, Confederate States of America & Cabinet Member
CCC - Sergeant, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Deaprtment, Colonial American Army

whew...124 words in a sentence..that gives new meaning to rambling..
which leaves me to ask a question.
how bout a thread...what has been your favorite book on the civil war ??



Fld Lt. A. Nardi
3rd Brigade'Dirty Dawgs'
3rd Division
3rd Corps
Army of Georgia

David,

It's been a long time since I last read Foote, but I enjoyed his books greatly. I think it's probably time I revisited Shelby Foote, but my limited time available on a daily basis means it'll take me probably a year to read all three volumes. That sounds like a blog project to me...

-Brett Schulte
HPS Playtester

ACW Campaign Games Design Center:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWCGDC/index.html

My Civil War Book Collection:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWBooks/

ACW Gaming & Reading Blog:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWBlog/

I have Foote's trilogy. I tend to read selective topics. I also had his tapes of the Gettysburg Campaign, Stars in their Courses. I thought the tapes were better then the Michael Shaara book Killer Angels, althoughs Foote's Southern bias does come through from time to time. Comparing tapes might not be the same as comparing the books.

Regarding the Shaara's, I thought Jeff Shaara's Mexican War book, Gone for Soldiers was better then his ACW books -- perhaps because more of it was new and also because many fo the characters show up in the ACW.

I enjoyed all the books (or should I say audio tapes).





Lt Gen Bob Breen
Commanding XIX Corps, AoS
"Defenders of the Right"

Bob,

I may purchase audio tapes of Foote's books if they are available. I drive a long way to work every day so that might be a nice alternative to the talk radio nonsense so prevalent in the morning.

-Brett Schulte
HPS Playtester

ACW Campaign Games Design Center:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWCGDC/index.html

My Civil War Book Collection:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWBooks/

ACW Gaming & Reading Blog:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWBlog/

Hi Dave!

I have the Trilogy - about a year now . . but have only read Vol.1 I paused then because, being new to the ACW ... the detail was a li'll overwhelming and I felt that I was "rushing" thru the detail to get to the next Turn in the Story. I felt this wasn't fair to either the Books or my growing understanding of the Timeline for Events. [V]

So Information - wise . . so far, they are the best for detail and continuity. As to his command of the English Tongue . . . well . . . He's a True Southern Poet Suh !!!! [:p]

Yes . . He does string some whoppers, that just takes a li'll concentration . . . BUT . . . . I found that there was a rhythm to his words that was kinda mesmeric . . once Ye found the "Beat" and suddenly the Pages just flow past Ye! [;)]

I also read his Novel - Shiloh - brilliantly constructed view of the Battle thru' the eyes of the Combatants - both Yank and Reb. I highly recommend <i><b>THAT</b></i> one in party - icky - lar! [:o)]

Finally - I have also read - The Stars in their Courses - the Gettysburg section from the ACW Trilogy, sold as a seperate Book. If Ye wanna "Bone" up on that Battle . . . that's the One for Me!!

I think that Bob has hit on a good 'un right there. Gawd Forbid it . . but if'n Ye were confined to bed for 6 weeks, with a leg or 2 in traction - Shelby Foote's Trilogy would be excellent bedside material. But for the Casual Reader . . they may be a mite Heavy Maaaaaan! [B)]

However, my advice would be to complete Yer collection - for selective topics, as Bob called 'em . . . Ye wouldn't need much more in the way of reference Books. [8D] (IMHO)

Pat.

Colonel Patrick G.M.Carroll,
Commanding
II Corps,
Army of Georgia.
"Spartan Southrons"
C.S.A.

" When My Country takes it's rightful place, amongst the Nations of the World, then and only then, let My Epitaph be written. "

.

As for audio tapes and CDs, our local library has many of them. They can be a bit pricey to purchase but every once in awhile I also see some military history ones at our local Sam's Club. A few years ago I was routinely doing 2 hours trips four times a week, with some 6 hour trips on the weekends and I got in a lot of "reading".



Lt Gen Bob Breen
Commanding XIX Corps, AoS
"Defenders of the Right"

Audio books are the way to go. I "read" all the time on my way to work and back. Our library system has a lot of books on tape and CD to check out for free, and I generally have at least one in my car at all times.

I'm currently listening to William C. Davis' "Don't Know Much About the Civil War." And while I do know much about the CW militarily, this book covers a lot of the political and social issues that I was not familiar with, so it is a good learning experience. Well written, good details, pretty unbiased to either side, gives a good perspective of the issues from both sides' point of view so that you can understand WHY things happened... I highly recommend it.

As for Shelby Foote's trilogy, I stopped reading them after flipping ahead to the section on the Battle of Olustee, FL in 1864 (about 10 minutes from where I grew up) and he COMPLETELY had the entire battle wrong from start to finish. I lost a little faith in the rest of the books at that point and have never gone back to them...

Regards,
Lt. Col. Alan Lynn
3rd Battery "Jacksonville Greys"
4th Div, II Corps, AoA
God bless <><
Signal Corps, Assistant Editor
"The only true news is history."

Thanks for the advice on the audio books guys. I'll have to check those out.

-Brett Schulte
HPS Playtester

ACW Campaign Games Design Center:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWCGDC/index.html

My Civil War Book Collection:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWBooks/

ACW Gaming & Reading Blog:
http://www.brettschulte.net/ACWBlog/

Foote is great.

It is a narrative, so he is telling a story. And like all storytellers, sometimes he is passing on stories that aren't exactly accurate. Remember, he wrote these before the civil war became popular in the sixties, therefore a lot of the research hadn't been performed.

Read them and enjoy them, because few writers can cover a huge topic so well. Just don't use them as the definitive statement.

Maj. Gen. Beno
Pickett's Division, I Corps, ANV

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by anardi</i>
<br />what has been your favorite book on the civil war ??

Fld Lt. A. Nardi
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Lt. Nardi,

My single favorite book on the entire war has been "Battle Cry of Freedom," by James McPherson.

My favorite author is Stephen Sears but, to my knowledge, he has not written a book on the entire war.


Your humble servant,
Gen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

David W. Mallory
ACW - General, Chief of the Armies, Confederate States of America & Cabinet Member
CCC - Sergeant, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Deaprtment, Colonial American Army

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ALynn</i>
<br />Audio books are the way to go. I "read" all the time on my way to work and back.

Regards,
Lt. Col. Alan Lynn
3rd Battery "Jacksonville Greys"
4th Div, II Corps, AoA
God bless <><
Signal Corps, Assistant Editor
"The only true news is history."

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Isn't that cheating? [:p][8D]

Lt. Col. Brad Slepetz
AoG

Audio books aren't cheating if you read them out loud.[:D]



Sincerely,

1st Lt Dwight McBride
1st Brigade ("The Regulars")
2nd Division/V Corps/AOP

How about if you just lip synch to them?[:D]

BG. Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
III Corps, AoM (CSA)