NF Shelby Foote's "The Civil War : a narrative" no longer free for download

Non-Fiction
Joined
Aug 25, 2013
Location
Hannover, Germany
EDIT: Meanwhile these files are deleted from archive.org. But read on, maybe you will find it interesting ...
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Sorry if someone has posted this earlier, I did a quick search a moment ago and did not find it, but I haven't checked very thouroughly. I'm all excited and wanted to share my find with you as soon as possible (although it might be what we here call an "Old Hat" to you and you know it already... but maybe there is somebody here who will be just as pleased as I am at the moment!).
I have just discovered that Shelby Foote's 3-volume narrative "The Civil War" is free for download on archive.org!
I have bought the printed version just before Christmas (and it was not cheap!!) but as it consists of three real bricks of books, I could only read them at home. And I had never thought they could be free for download! Now I will load my Kindle and hope to get on with my reading over the summer.
You can find them here:
Vol. 1 : https://archive.org/details/civilwarnarrativ01foot
Vol. 2. https://archive.org/details/civilwarnarrativ03ilfoot
Vol. 3: https://archive.org/details/civilwarnarrativ02foot
 
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Interesting that the copyright wasn't renewed (there are those who say one shouldn't be allowed a la Disney to continually renew copyright).

I'd written the first draft of my Shiloh novel in 1987 and then found Shelby had written one on Shiloh and, uncannily, I'd taken some of the same regiments and view points he had written into his. It wouldn't be until 2002 that I re-wrote what I'd started but I've found it interesting how he approached his narrative as vignettes.
 
Interesting that the copyright wasn't renewed (there are those who say one shouldn't be allowed a la Disney to continually renew copyright).

I'd written the first draft of my Shiloh novel in 1987 and then found Shelby had written one on Shiloh and, uncannily, I'd taken some of the same regiments and view points he had written into his. It wouldn't be until 2002 that I re-wrote what I'd started but I've found it interesting how he approached his narrative as vignettes.

I liked that shifting viewpoint, too. I also liked how he used only the authentic words, documented, when he had a well-known person like Beauregard or Forrest speak.
 
I would so be into this if I didn't have Shiloh in print and the three volume narrative as an audiobook.
 
I would so be into this if I didn't have Shiloh in print and the three volume narrative as an audiobook.
Of course, I already have these... also audio versions of the Narrative... and print versions of both... Bugger.

On the plus side, no one here has the excuse for saying they don't have access to Foote as a reference...

Also on the plus side, my copies of the Narrative are first editions.
 
Who cares? He's just a Lost Causer whose work is full of myths and inaccuracies. Never mind that he spent twenty years producing a beautifully written masterpiece that has been responsible for sparking greater interest in the Civil War for thousands if not millions of Americans. Or that his portrayals of Grant and Lincoln revealed to many a Southerner that these men were every bit as deserving of our respect and admiration as Lee and Jackson. Lots of posters on this site know such much more than he did, and have contributed so much more to the literature on the War!
 
Who cares? He's just a Lost Causer whose work is full of myths and inaccuracies. Never mind that he spent twenty years producing a beautifully written masterpiece that has been responsible for sparking greater interest in the Civil War for thousands if not millions of Americans. Or that his portrayals of Grant and Lincoln revealed to many a Southerner that these men were every bit as deserving of our respect and admiration as Lee and Jackson. Lots of posters on this site know such much more than he did, and have contributed so much more to the literature on the War!

You know what it's like......I live now, and I went to (insert school here) and I'm retired (insert branch of service here) and I have a computer....and I'm from _______________. He has a vital place in history and darned if they can take it away from him. Must be maddening.

Know what happens? I start giving the kids hard facts and their eyes eventually glaze over. I give 'em some Foote and they are riveted (those are also the parts of The Civil War where they sit up and pay attention). No, he's not Gordon Rhea. I think all of us get it....and I totally agree. He's another of those "gateway" drugs for those of us addicted to the Civil War. :smile:

Nice post. You get a gold star.
 
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