Civil War historian Shelby Foote, probably, because of Ken Burns' 1990 PBS documentary, the most recognized chronicler of the War Between the States, has died.
Burns brought to his subject an ability to make storytelling immediate and intimate. Foote was featured throughout the documentary and at least for me, provided a sense of fascination with the War that I had lacked up until then. Foote's commentary struck me as being quiet and deep, without the self-aggrandizement we have come to accept from experts.
I remember a quote from Foote still now, a decade and a half after watching. I'll paraphrase: "The outcome of the Civil War," Foote observed, "was that before the war the country was referred to as 'The United States are...' and after, 'The United States is...'"
I know that Foote was criticized for not being academic enough, which I always took to meaning that he was too close to his subject. But Foote inhabited his passion so completely that it would have been impossible to treat it as just another intellectual exercise. Foote seemed to me to be a kind of Grand Uncle who drew you to his knee to tell you the stories that illuminated your people's history. And for one, I appreciated the invitation.
Shelby Foote was 88.
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