The Civil War: A Narrative, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville

''I cannot begin to tell you how pleased I am with the whole production -- the format, of course, and the quality of sound; but above all with Grover Gardner's performance. No writer could ask for a better out-loud reader.'' --Shelby Foote ''A stunning book full of color, life, character, and a new atmosphere of the Civil War, and at the same time a narrative of unflagging power. Eloquent proof that an historian should be a writer above all else.'' --Burke Davis, author of They Called Him Stonewall ''Here, for a certainty, is one of the great historical narratives of our century, a unique and brilliant achievement, one that must be firmly placed in the ranks of the masters . . . a stirring and stupendous synthesis of history.'' -- Chicago Daily News ''In objectivity, in range, in mastery of detail, in beauty of language and feeling for the people involved, this work surpasses anything else on the subject . . . It stands alongside the work of the best of them.'' -- New Republic ''This is historical writing at its best . . . It can hardly be surpassed.'' -- Library Journal Shelby Foote (1916-2005) came from a long line of Mississippians. After attending the University of North Carolina, he served in World War II as a captain of field artillery in the European theater. He wrote six novels and was awarded three Guggenheim fellowships in the twenty-year course of writing his monumental three-volume history, The Civil War: A Narrative .