NF Winston Groom

[TallTallMan]

I've always heard extremely contradictory opinions about the ACW history books by Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump. I have not read any of them (my comments on this forum about him were based on others), and was wondering if anybody could offer opinions or recommendations. Thanks!

 

[Sid J.]

I've read his Vicksburg book. It's ok. For this group, it's several notches below Tim Smith or Ed Bearss. For a more generalized (ie larger) audience, I'm sure it's fine. He seems to go for that Shelby Foote folksy, twangy no footnotes thing.

 

[TallTallMan]

As a preemptive strike, let's not do any "super writer-bashing" in this thread. Criticism is allowed and encouraged (even harsh), but nothing personal against the guy. OK? Good. Carry on.

 

[TallTallMan]

I've read his Vicksburg book. It's ok. For this group, it's several notches below Tim Smith or Ed Bearss. For a more generalized (ie larger) audience, I'm sure it's fine. He seems to go for that Shelby Foote folksy, twangy no footnotes thing.

Thanks! Those are usually the opinions I see.

 

[bdtex]

I've always heard extremely contradictory opinions about the ACW history books by Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump. I have not read any of them (my comments on this forum about him were based on others), and was wondering if anybody could offer opinions or recommendations. Thanks!

I have read his Civil War books about Franklin, Shiloh and Vicksburg and that is the order I would rank them. I read Shrouds Of Glory twice. Only Civil War book I have read twice.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I have read his Civil War books about Franklin, Shiloh and Vicksburg and that is the order I would rank them. I read Shrouds Of Glory twice. Only Civil War book I have read twice.

I have read the same three and would rank them the same. I've also read his book about New Orleans (1815 not 1862), which I would definitely rank below the other three and would hesitate to recommend. Groom seems to generally understand the Civil War; the War of 1812 not so much.

Shrouds of Glory (Franklin & Nashville) was one of the first adult Civil War history books I read after Foote - mostly because my local library had a copy. (Why I didn't read Catton I don't know.) It is also one of the few Civil War books I've read twice, but mostly because I'd originally read it in 2004 then revisited it over a decade later once I had started reading about the war much more extensively. I haven't read any other books about Franklin or Nashville, so unlike Shiloh or Vicksburg or New Orleans I can't spot the issues as well. (There's a CWT member who despises that book with a passion.)

However, Shrouds of Glory came out in 1995, when Groom was new to nonfiction and it was the only history book he wrote that decade. He could take his time on it. In contrast, from 2002 to 2020 Groom was cranking out history books (many not about the Civil War) every 1-2 years. Few can produce high-quality books at that rate, especially at the 300-400 page length.

Groom is a good, enjoyable writer but a weak historian. He accepts sources uncritically (in the Vicksburg book especially) and makes some careless errors, like conflating Thomas ap Catesby Jones from the War of 1812 with Catesby ap Roger Jones, commander of the CSS Virginia in 1862.

If someone doesn't normally read books about the Civil War, I'd recommend Groom's book about Shiloh over Smith, Cunningham, Daniel, Sword, or McDonough. But anyone interested enough to be on CWT should read Timothy Smith instead of Groom.

Comparisons to Shelby Foote in terms of style are apt, but I think Foote was more diligent in his work.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Having not personally read any of Groom's titles, thought it notable that two credible sources (like 'bdtex' and 'Joshism' above), found sufficient interest to both state they have read Groom's 'Shrouds of Glory' twice.

That knowledge per se, would be a reliable enough recommendation (to me) for this particular work.

 

[tony_gunter]

I've always heard extremely contradictory opinions about the ACW history books by Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump. I have not read any of them (my comments on this forum about him were based on others), and was wondering if anybody could offer opinions or recommendations. Thanks!

I've read his book on Vicksburg. Nothing new or interesting for someone who's read up on Vicksburg before. He's just summarizing the history as presented by others in a storytelling format for the masses, like Shelby Foote as others have posted. I was just happy to see a popular author throw his hat into the Vicksburg ring and maybe draw some more interest in the campaign from casual enthusiasts.

 

[uaskme]

Lot of people get lost in Regimental Histories. Takes accumulating a lot of knowledge to get there. So many would benefit reading something like Groom first. Most people don't get beyond that level of analysis.

 

[fyrd]

I read Shrouds of Glory as a teenager. It was excellent at drawing my interest but I wouldn't necessarily take it as a source on the campaign.

 

[Library Lady]

I've read his Vicksburg book. It's ok. For this group, it's several notches below Tim Smith or Ed Bearss. For a more generalized (ie larger) audience, I'm sure it's fine. He seems to go for that Shelby Foote folksy, twangy no footnotes thing.

Lot of people get lost in Regimental Histories. Takes accumulating a lot of knowledge to get there. So many would benefit reading something like Groom first. Most people don't get beyond that level of analysis.

I heartily agree with both comments above. I came to Shrouds of Glory by way of The Widow of the South which is what introduced me to the battle of Franklin. I was looking for more general military information without the romance novel elements and Shrouds of Glory turned out to be exactly what I was looking for. It's a good introduction and the writing is engaging such that readers might be induced to look deeper because there are nuggets of interesting information scattered through the book. The gents (and it's almost always gents) who write the huge multivolume sets on a particular battle or campaign may have better scholarship and may be just as engaging as writers, but the size of their works can be intimidating, if not downright off-putting, for people who aren't sure just how interested they are in the topic.

Mr. Groom also wrote books on other wars, and I enjoyed his 1942: The Year that Tried Men's Souls for the same reasons I mentioned above. I'd read more on World War II than I had on Franklin, so I did see some things that I'd question or at least for which I would have liked a bit more explanation, but the book is covering a lot of time and a lot of area. It's done its job if it made me want to know more.

I know I have his book on Shiloh in one of the "I might want to read this before I try to sell it" piles on the floor in front of the (full) bookcases, and it's one that I most likely will get around to reading or listening to as an E-audiobook on one of the library services if I can find it.

 

[G Low]

I have read his Civil War books about Franklin, Shiloh and Vicksburg and that is the order I would rank them. I read Shrouds Of Glory twice. Only Civil War book I have read twice.

@bdtex , have you read Rebel Yell ? I had to read it twice ( so good )…

 

[ErnieMac]

I've not read Groom's book about Vicksburg and cannot comment about it, but I have read a number of his other books. Those include Shrouds of Glory, Kearny's March, A Storm in Flanders, 1942 and The Aviators. I concur with the posts that note that Groom's writing style is more in line with Shelby Foote than with that of true historians. His style of writing is quite readable and for the most part accurate. In the case of Shrouds of Glory and Kearny's March there was very little written on those subject at the time I read them. (I did read Wiley Sword's Embrace an Angry Wind, since retitled as The Confederacy's Last Hurrah, at about the same time). As @uaskme noted Groom provided a good general introduction to the topics he addressed.

 

[bdtex]

As @uaskme noted Groom provided a good general introduction to the topics he addressed.

Precisely why I read all 3 before reading other books about those 3 battles.

 

[TallTallMan]

@bdtex @Library Lady @Joshism @uaskme @fyrd @tony_gunter @ErnieMac @Nathan Stuart Thanks everybody for your insights! It sounds like they're good as pop history but not deep reading.

 

[TallTallMan]

@bdtex , have you read Rebel Yell ? I had to read it twice ( so good )…

I have that can of spam on the bookcase, but I haven't read it yet. I can't imagine it'll be better than Robertson's biography.

 

[bdtex]

@bdtex , have you read Rebel Yell ? I had to read it twice ( so good )…

No I haven't. I haven't gotten to the biographies stage of reading. It may be in the 200+ Civil War books my father gave me 3-4 years ago when he was thinning his library.

 

[TallTallMan]

No I haven't. I haven't gotten to the biographies stage of reading. It may be in the 200+ Civil War books my father gave me 3-4 years ago when he was thinning his library.

What's funny is I prefer bios over anything else!