or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
Sell Us Your Item
For a $8.50 Gift Card
Trade in
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Tell the Publisher!
I'd like to read this book on Kindle

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

Civil War Volumes 1-3 Box Set [Box set] [Paperback]

Shelby Foote
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (257 customer reviews)

List Price: $78.00
Price: $47.85 & FREE Shipping. Details
You Save: $30.15 (39%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 12 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, June 20? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Hardcover $74.49  
Paperback, Box set $47.85  
Unknown Binding --  
Sell Back Your Copy for $8.50
No matter where you bought them, get up to 70% back when you sell your books at Amazon.com.
Used Price$30.00
Trade-in Price$8.50
Price after
Trade-in
$21.50

Book Description

November 12, 1986
Foote's comprehensive history of the Civil War includes three compelling volumes: Fort Sumter to Perryville, Fredericksburg to Meridian, and Red River to Appomattox. Collected together in a handsome boxed set, this is the perfect gift for any Civil War buff.

Fort Sumter to Perryville
"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." —Van Allen Bradley, Chicago Daily News

"Anyone who wants to relive the Civil War, as thousands of Americans apparently do, will go through this volume with pleasure.... Years from now, Foote's monumental narrative most likely will continue to be read and remembered as a classic of its kind." —New York Herald Tribune Book Review

Fredericksburg to Meridian
"This, then, is narrative history—a kind of history that goes back to an older literary tradition.... The writing is superb...one of the historical and literary achievements of our time." —The Washington Post Book World

"Gettysburg...is described with such meticulous attention to action, terrain, time, and the characters of the various commanders that I understand, at last, what happened in that battle.... Mr. Foote has an acute sense of the relative importance of events and a novelist's skill in directing the reader's attention to the men and the episodes that will influence the course of the whole war, without omitting items which are of momentary interest. His organization of facts could hardly be bettered." —Atlantic

Red River to Appomattox
"An unparalleled achievement, an American Iliad, a unique work uniting the scholarship of the historian and the high readability of the first-class novelist." —Walker Percy

"I have never read a better, more vivid, more understandable account of the savage battling between Grant's and Lee's armies.... Foote stays with the human strife and suffering, and unlike most Southern commentators, he does not take sides. 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

Special Offers and Product Promotions


Frequently Bought Together

Civil War Volumes 1-3 Box Set + Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era (Oxford History of the United States)
Price for both: $63.20

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This beautifully written trilogy of books on the American Civil War is not only a piece of first-rate history, but also a marvelous work of literature. Shelby Foote brings a skilled novelist's narrative power to this great epic. Many know Foote for his prominent role as a commentator on Ken Burns's PBS series about the Civil War. These three books, however, are his legacy. His southern sympathies are apparent: the first volume opens by introducing Confederate President Jefferson Davis, rather than Abraham Lincoln. But they hardly get in the way of the great story Foote tells. This hefty three volume set should be on the bookshelf of any Civil War buff. --John Miller

From the Inside Flap

Foote's comprehensive history of the Civil War includes three compelling volumes: Fort Sumter to Perryville, Fredericksburg to Meridian, and Red River to Appomattox.

Product Details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Vintage; 1st Vintage Books Ed edition (November 12, 1986)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0394749138
  • ISBN-13: 978-0394749136
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 6.2 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (257 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

I highly recommend this series of books to any student of US history and the Civil War. J. McFarland  |  82 reviewers made a similar statement
Don't let the three books bother you, they will be read very very quickly. D. A. D Orlins  |  57 reviewers made a similar statement
Very well written and readable. Rebecca J. Weatherly  |  66 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
380 of 386 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Definitive Work on Civil War July 19, 2000
Format:Paperback
I became a "fan" of the Civil War, to the extent any person can become a fan of a war, after watching Ken Burns' excellent series on PBS. I then set out to learn more about the war, and read, over the course of a couple of years, the three volume masterpiece of Shelby Foote. I can state without reservation it was one of the most enriching reading experiences of my life.

In Foote's talented hands, the characters of the conflict, North and South, come alive. He doesn't ignore the war out west, and treats battles such as Vicksburg, Shiloh, New Orleans and countless others with precision and attention.

He has somewhat of a Southerner's slant, but he is not so opinionated as to ignore gallantry by the North, and he rightfully rips Confederates when it is called for. Lincoln comes off much more sympathetically then Jeff Davis in my opinion, and he recounts various blunders by Confederate generals including Ewell's failure to act at Gettysburg, the disappearance of JEB Stuart when Lee needed him most, Joe Johnston's hesitancy and Hood's uncontrolled aggression in Georgia, etc.

Some reviewers here at Amazon criticized his lack of footnotes and a few missed details (ie who got in the last word in a series of letters between Grant and Lee, etc.) Come on, anyone reviewing the bibliography knows that Foote has done his research, I would expect anyone writing a 2800 page chronicle of a 4 year war to get a fact wrong here and there. 135 years after the war, details still pop up in archives and newly discovered letters which make people question prior assumptions. This is no historical novel as some have suggested - he doesn't invent dialogue and guess about the personal lives of characters like the Shaara books - this is history....

Perhaps Foote's trilogy is not for everyone. He leaves out some statistical data favored by historians such as MacPherson, who spent much more time on the events leading up to the war and who attempted to put the conflict in more of a historical context, although quite frankly those are omissions I didn't miss at all. I think for most general readers, who are simply motivated by a desire to learn about the battles, the great personalities, and the heroic struggles of the North and the South fought on soil familiar to all of us, the Foote books are a striking success. I haven't found a better single source of the history of the war, including detailed battle plans, maps, personal histories, etc. Buy the books, and come back to them here and there while readling other material in between. This is not a reading assignment to tackle in a single season. You'll find Foote's writing to be polished, lively, informative but not overwhelming, like coming back to an old storyteller friend. Read more ›

Was this review helpful to you?
189 of 192 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars worth every detail--compellingly readable--thanks, Shelby November 29, 1999
Format:Hardcover
Perhaps the greatest accolade I heard of Shelby Foote's involvement with the PBS mini-series "The Civil War" was the admiring comment that he seemed to have been there. I feel very much the same way about this epic 3-volume set. McPhearson's "Battle Cry of Freedom" may be the standard one-volume history of the Civil War, and a fine work it is, but it offers nowhere near the feeling of proximity to people and events as does this massive labor of love. Foote is so good at so many of the writer/historian's crafts that combine to make this trilogy essential Civil War reading. His skill at bringing a novelist's eye to this material has already been frequently noted. But he also has a wonderful way of giving a reader the feeling for the terrain on which battles were fought, for the ebb and flow of those battles, for the character of the men involved (and what characters! the proud, obstinante Jeff Davis, the rugged, unwashed Grant, the patrician Lee, the moody, tragic Lincoln--who would dare invent them? Yet Foote brings them, and dozens more, to breathing life). He conveys equally well the movement of troops as he does ideas--not to mention the sights, sounds, smells of the era, be they on the battlefield, in the army camp, or the White House. These are books that I will turn to again and again (I just got done re-reading volume 3), because, like no one else, Shelby Foote not only makes me feel like he was there, but that *I* was too.
Was this review helpful to you?
92 of 93 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A mammoth history of the Civil War July 7, 2000
Format:Paperback
I have just completed this almost 3000 page tome on the American Civil War. I am not American but have always found the Civil War fascinating. A while back I finally decided to purchase a book about the Civil War that would read well and also be informative. Well Foote's books certainly are that. It became an obsession with me to get home everday and read on.....it felt as if I was there. This is partly due to the fact that the books read like a novel (probably why it is called a narrative!). I have read critiscms of the book which state that Foote is pro-Confederate and that this is really a Confederate History....well this is nonsense. He handles both sides with equal deft care. His descriptions of the main battles...First Bull Run, Fredricksburg, Vicksburg, Gettysburg, Antietam, Chancellorsville are all excellent and not to mention the rest of the campaigns. My only critiscm if it can be called that is that his second and third book are far better than his first which tended to drag a little but this may be because things started to really heat up in the second and third book as did the War. Altogether an excellent book and kudos to the author. Now I have to find something else to fill the void.....?
Was this review helpful to you?
55 of 56 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Boxed Set April 29, 2011
Format:Hardcover
I first read Shelby Foote's masterful Civil War trilogy many years ago. If you are something of a Civil War buff, you will be familiar with this exceptional work. For newcomers, there are many compelling and glowing reviews to be found at earlier editions on the Amazon website. I recently spotted this new edition at a bookstore and they kindly let me open the shrink wrap and examine it. The production quality of the printing, binding and box assembly are first rate, and I would describe this as a worthy collector's edition. The first reviewer for this item left the impression that the font size is too small in comparison to other larger formats. My comparisons showed them to be fairly close in size. Any lengthy book has to find a balance between font size and overall bulk; I think this edition strikes a good balance in that regard. If you are not able to accomplish a hands on comparison as I did, you can approximate it by comparing the closeness in size between the various boxed set dimensions...not much difference. And, with this set, there is a markedly better quality of the printer's art. This would be a fine set to grace any collector's shelves.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars American Iliad: Shelby Foote's Civil War Narrative
I was recently exchanging e-mails with a history buff friend and the conversation drifted to Civil War histories. Read more
Published 9 days ago by G.V.
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for civil war fans
This is the best military history of the Civil War out there. Extremely detailed. There's a lengthy chapter for the major battles, and even the little actions like the Battles of... Read more
Published 23 days ago by Jonathan Cortez
5.0 out of 5 stars Battles Nirvana
I love war histories and the more battle details the better. Shelby Foote delivers in spades. I am half way through the 3rd volume in about 4 weeks and would rank these books... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mike Griswold
4.0 out of 5 stars This was gift to my sister.
This was a gift to my sister who is a bit of a civil war buff and has involvement in some historical society activities. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Eric B.
4.0 out of 5 stars Looking forward to a good long read
I am looking forward to reading this series. I've not had any Civil War books in my library other than a book on Ulysses Grant and one on the life and letters of Robert E. Lee.
Published 1 month ago by R. Michael Dorsey
5.0 out of 5 stars An American Classic
A splendiferous edition of an American classic. I bought my first copy, in Nashville, at an antiquarian bookstore twenty-some years ago. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Francois Lachaud
5.0 out of 5 stars An American Iliad
Homer's rhetoric is all thunder and brass... Shelby Foote by comparison is like a country fiddler, who spent a couple years at Juilliard. Read more
Published 1 month ago by richard schupbach
3.0 out of 5 stars How the South won the Civil War
Sure, the is a readable "narrative history" of the civil war and is entertaining. However his southern bias can be quite annoying. Read more
Published 3 months ago by James Sexton
5.0 out of 5 stars Shelby Foote 's The Civil War
They are very large books, averaging 900 pages each and I think cover all aspects of the war both military and political
I don't believe they have left anything out.
Published 3 months ago by Dennis Stone
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
We love this set! It's well put together & so wonderful to read! We love the fact that it was all hard bound! Read more
Published 4 months ago by kathiparadis
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews


Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Forums

Topic From this Discussion
What happened to volumes I and III?
I would also buy all three volumes, but I have no interest in one or two.
Jul 13, 2010 by James H. Rife |  See all 3 posts
Have something you'd like to share about this product?
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions




Look for Similar Items by Category