The Civil War as heroic ordeal

Review essay on Shelby Foote's The Civil War, Volumes I, II, & III

There are an awful lot of books about the Civil War and Lincoln. This series, which runs to about 3000 pages, is one of the most daunting, if “classic”. When I finally found the courage to crack it, I was immediately swept into the narrative. Though with all the battle detail it is a bit like jumping onto a moving train, the power of the language, the e…