The Civil War/ American Homer: A Narrative (Modern Library)

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The reality is, the Civil War has been hotly debated for 160 years and will be for another 160 years. Foote supported himself during the twenty years he worked on the narrative with three Guggenheim Fellowships (1955–1960), Ford Foundation grants, and loans from Walker Percy. Foote lauded Nathan Bedford Forrest as "one of the most attractive men who ever walked through the pages of history" and dismissed what he characterized as "propaganda" about Forrest's role in the Fort Pillow Massacre.

Shelby Foote on The Civil War | National Review Shelby Foote on The Civil War | National Review

Entertaining History: The Civil War in Literature, Film, and Song, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, p. The other, the southern, Lost Cause perspective, rightly says the south were fighting against enormous odds and an unstoppable North, but also puts a stamp of nobility on it.The problem of having an all-white, all-male (and non-historian) production team was further compounded by Burns’ choice of interviewees. Both of these popular histories were focused almost solely on military history – battles, soldiers, and life on the warfront, and they seemingly guided the general focus of both the editing and production of “The Civil War. You really get the feeling that Burns, for all of his incredible gifts as a filmmaker, he really kind of fell in love with Shelby Foote,” said James M.

Civil War’: Ken Burns series turns 30 amid Breonna ‘The Civil War’: Ken Burns series turns 30 amid Breonna

In the late 1980s, Ken Burns had assembled a group of consultants to interview for his Civil War documentary. Unfortunately, it seems as if “The Civil War” will not hold up against historical scrutiny as well as “Reconstruction” likely will. Foote had argued that Forrest "avoided splitting up families or selling [slaves] to cruel plantation owners.

Frail, elderly Union and Confederate soldiers embrace one another, laughing and shaking hands on the very battlefield where they had fought against each other a lifetime ago. He argues the war began “because we failed to do the thing we really have a genius for, which is compromise,” and that southerners were merely fighting to defend themselves against the northern aggressor. As we’ve seen in “Reconstruction,” historical reality, no matter how painful and violent and vivid, can be effectively and evocatively portrayed though documentary film. However the 16th Maine, whose casualties numbers of 11 dead and 62 wounded were by no means insignificant, had the greater percentage of loss (over 86 percent) with 159 men being taken prisoner. Foote rejected the Confederate flag's association with white supremacy and argued "I’m for the Confederate flag always and forever.