Crimguy -> RE: Essential Reading/Viewing (12/11/2006 8:59:57 PM)
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That is a great find, thanks. He does make the assumption that all of it is known, or well known. I never have taken issue with the details of battle, etc. It's more of the personal anecdotes of Davis et. al. that leave me curious. quote:
ORIGINAL: Slick91 quote:
ORIGINAL: Crimguy I am into Vol. 1 of Foote's Civil War. He is a great story-teller, and I'm forced to wonder where he got all of his material from - there are no footnotes in my copy. Here is a transcript of an interview with Shelby Foote about this: http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1216 quote:
LAMB: There are no footnotes and no bibliography. FOOTE: The subject, after 100 years, is well enough known not to need footnotes, the Civil War. Footnotes are extremely useful to other historians, and I was writing for historians' enjoyment and, I hope, instruction, but mainly I did not want to interrupt this narrative with this bunch of footnotes down at the bottom of the page where your eye leaves the story every now and then to glance down at the footnote. I thought that the footnotes would cost me more artistically than they would gain me in academic respect. quote:
LAMB: The reason I bring it up is that you also mention in one of your books in your comments at the end that he came out with a bibliography that meant you didn't have to do it. FOOTE: Right. He and his friend Pete Long published a separate bibliography that covers everything, and I said if you want to know where I got my books, go to Newman's bibliography. That's where I got them. LAMB: Three hundred and fifty books on the Civil War? FOOTE: About that number was the working library I had near my desk at all times. I worked from printed sources entirely. I did not get into the archives and dig around among manuscripts. LAMB: Have you read all those books? FOOTE: Yes, I had. I read them and read them with pleasure, most of them. Please, go and read the whole interview, it is well worth your time! By the way, he wrote all of his books with a dip pen, and then typed them out on a typewritter for the publisher.
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