Shelby Foote's closely fact-based novel Shiloh offers what I have long searched for--unromanticized historical fiction. Beginning the day of the battle and ending the day after, Shiloh brings the reader into the thick of the action.

Shiloh is divided into eight chapters. Each chapter is narrated by a different character--and one chapter by the individual members of a twelve-man squad--skipping back and forth between the Union and Confederate sides. Narrators as diverse as an aide to Confederate General A.S. Johnston, a Mississippi farmboy, a Minnesotan deserter, and an Ohioan officer all contribute to this novel's grunt's-eye view of the battle, and the subtly interconnected perspectives combine, in the end, to give the reader a panoramic view of what this battle meant to the men who fought it.

Shiloh is not just a book on battle, however. Through his narrators' thoughts, Foote points out the differing motives and ideals of the two sides--the differing attitudes among Northern troops and the perhaps fatal devotion to honor of the Confederates. Shiloh is a fast read--I read it in an afternoon and an evening--but by no means shallow. This is a beautifully-written, thoughtful, and moving novel.

Highly recommended.

The Battle of Shiloh was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought on April 6 and April 7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. Confederate forces under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack against the Union Army of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and came very close to defeating his army. This battle was also fought by other celebrity generals such as William T. Sherman and Nathan Bedford Forrest (OK, so he was a colonel, but who's splitting hairs here)

Shelby Foote's short novel really tells the story through many of the junior officers and enlisted. So do not be expecting a Michael Shaara type of insight into top leaders mind set. This is strictly what it is like at the bottom and experiencing the chaos of war. I rather enjoyed it, though sometimes for as short as it was, it still felt a tad long. That, however, was few and far between. By far my favorite scene was when one of the soldiers watched Col. Forrest get wounded among the sea of grey coats. Mainly of interest to Civil War buffs, but they will enjoy it immensely.

The Battle of Shiloh was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought on April 6 and April 7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. Confederate forces under Generals Albert Sidney Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard launched a surprise attack against the Union Army of Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and came very close to defeating his army. This battle was also fought by other celebrity generals such as William T. Sherman and Nathan Bedford Forrest (OK, so he was a colonel, but who's splitting hairs here)

Shelby Foote's short novel really tells the story through many of the junior officers and enlisted. So do not be expecting a Michael Shaara type of insight into top leaders mind set. This is strictly what it is like at the bottom and experiencing the chaos of war. I rather enjoyed it, though sometimes for as short as it was, it still felt a tad long. That, however, was few and far between. By far my favorite scene was when one of the soldiers watched Col. Forrest get wounded among the sea of grey coats. Mainly of interest to Civil War buffs, but they will enjoy it immensely.

Shelby Foote's Shiloh is a Civil War Classic. It is one of the absolute best novels of the American Civil War. Mr. Foote is able to capture not only the sense of the battle, but the spirit of the soldiers who fought there as well. It is not a detailed analysis of troop movements or tactics, but rather a study of the human condition and how it deals with the horrors of war as seen through the eyes of the soldiers. According to Mr. Foote, "A book about war, to be read by men, ought to tell what each of ..... us saw in our own little corner. Then it would be the way it was-not to God but to us." BUT TO US. And that is exactly how Mr. Shelby Foote wrote this book. As you read you will see, smell, taste, hear, and feel what the soldiers did, and experience both their glory and shame. A masterpiece.
No gratuitious language, sex or violence. Some of the battle scenes are graphic but that is war in all its uglyness.
Very highly recommended for anyone interested in war and soldiers; especially the Civil War. It is simply a very good book and a must for anyone interested in or studying the American Civil War.

Foote structures this novel brilliantly. Each narrator describes a different aspect of the battle, thereby providing readers with sense of what various soldiers' duties were during the engagement and how they responded to combat. The book also unfolds chronologically, so Foote provides us with the key strategy and major tactics used in the battle as well as the major points of conflict, including Shiloh Church, the Peach Orchard, The Hornet's Nest and the Fallen Timbers. It was especially interesting how he sometimes omits, or only vaguely references, other landmark events, such as the pounding of Union forces from Ruggles' Battery and the poignancy of Bloody Pond as a hellish haven in the battle. Maybe the 21st Century emphasis on these two icons of Shiloh is part of a contemporary way of thinking about the battle that wasn't as key to Foote's 1950s consciousness. Perhaps Foote effectively avoids being specific about some of these icons to make the point that ways we perceive the site are not necessarily how Civil War soldiers actually thought about the fracas. Another very subtle but effective technique that Foote uses is to interconnect each section told by the various narrators. We discover what happened to Fountain, for example, by reading another narrator's chapter, and attentive readers will discover clever ways that various narrators and characters encounter each other in the various accounts. Throughout the book, Foote's storytelling is superb. This novel mirrors the way veterans tell stories to each other. Part of the reason why veterans tell stories to each other relates to their interest in using other soldiers' accounts to come up with a better understanding of the entire experience. In this way, the line between storyteller and historian is blurred, and Foote, as a WW II veteran and fine writer, is a master at this creative, yet accurate and honest, approach to thinking about history.

Shelby Foote is best known for his authoritative 3 volume history of Civil War, but readers may not realize that he was equally adept at penning historical fiction. In Shiloh, he tells the story of the battle which took place April 6-7 1862 through the eyes of six participants, equally split between union and confederate. The novel builds slowly, but by the time you reach the crescendo of the battle, Foote's prose becomes so hauntingly descriptive and detailed that you feel as if you are there, and the rest of the novel flies by in a page-turning blur. At first I didn't think I was going to like the structure of the novel, because the 6 perspectives are only very loosely tied together with no transition in between, but after I read awhile I realized that the author used this particular story-telling device as a way to try to communicate a sense of the fog of war to the reader. You see events from the ground level, just as the characters do, and it's not until you finish the novel that you begin to get a complete picture of the battle. One of the narrators sums up this approach to history by commenting that "books about war were written to be read by God Almighty, because no one but God ever saw it that way. A book about war, to be read by men, ought to tell what each of the twelve of us saw in our own little corner. Then it would be the way it was - not to God but to us." Foote uses this technique with great effect, making this novel grippingly readable. While it's not the best Civil War novel I've read, it's certainly in the top 5. Shiloh is a must for Civil War buffs and Shelby Foote fans alike.

If one has read Foote's 3 volume history of the Civil War the quality of this book comes as no surprise. One of the amazing things about Foote's 3 volume history was the readability. It felt as if you were reading a novel. This novel is the other side of the coin. It feels as if the characters would have done and said exactly what Foote has them do. Even though the characters are fictionalized the events are covered with the same attention to factual detail as the best history. Each character in the book can only tell of their small part in this terrible battle but all the accounts are tied in to make the book very coherent. This is a great companion to the 3 volume history but can easily stand on its own.

If one has read Foote's 3 volume history of the Civil War the quality of this book comes as no surprise. One of the amazing things about Foote's 3 volume history was the readability. It felt as if you were reading a novel. This novel is the other side of the coin. It feels as if the characters would have done and said exactly what Foote has them do. Even though the characters are fictionalized the events are covered with the same attention to factual detail as the best history. Each character in the book can only tell of their small part in this terrible battle but all the accounts are tied in to make the book very coherent. This is a great companion to the 3 volume history but can easily stand on its own.

Shelby Foote is famous (rightly enough) for his trilogy on the ACW... but as a curiousity (and well before "The Killer Angels" Pullitzer Prize...)he wrote a short novel using the same pattern or schema of different characters TELLING THE ACTION FROM HIS POINT OF VIEW , the main difference is they do not relate a lot or are interwoven... still the prose is superb and the battle scenes as a whole are VERY GOOD!...
Not five stars because there are far superior novels but a must have if an ACW fan...
ADB

Who better than Shelby Foote to write a Civil War based novel? He does what he does best here, presenting history not from the viewpoint of historians but from the soldier in the field. Foote strips away the glory that military writing often wraps itself in, the noble causes and fighting the good fight. He shows the randomness of who survives and who doesn't, the fear that some men overcome and others are overcome by. A very good read, intersting, exciting and informative.

In this beautifully written book, Shelby Foote takes the reader straight to the battlefield of Shiloh. By telling the story from the points of view of the participants, both North and South, there is a real sense of being present. The guns fire and the smoke and rain penetrate the entire area. We are wet and cold and scared and puzzled by the battle and how it moves. Any student of the Civil War should enjoy this story emensely.

The essence of Shelby Foote's book Shiloh is summed up by one of his narrators, Corporal Blake, who speaking to the men in his squad says,"books about war were written to be read by God Almighty, because no one but God ever saw it that way. A book about war, to be read by men, ought to tell what each of the twelve of us saw in our own little corner. Then it would be the way it was - not to God but to us." Shiloh is definitely a "man's-eye" view of the battle - every chapter consisting of first person accounts from various narrators, Union and Confederate, telling only of what transpires in their own little corner. This proves to be an effective device for dramatically portraying the battle as it was experienced by those who fought it rather than giving the perspective of the historians who study it.
Foote avoids not only the omniscient perspective, but that of the commanders as well; equally rejecting God and generals in telling his tale. The narrators that Foote uses in his story are the young men who fought the battle. They are all either common soldiers or young junior officers with no voice in the planning of strategy or authority to direct its execution.
Because of Foote's choice of narrators, it proved difficult to include certain background information about the commanders of the armies that fought the battle. Rather than leave this information out, Foote included it in expositional passages that sounded forced and awkward coming from his young narrators. This is the only flaw in an otherwise outstanding "boots on the ground" tale of war, and is easy to forgive when balanced against the books many virtues.

Theo Logos

The essence of Shelby Foote's book Shiloh is summed up by one of his narrators, Corporal Blake, who speaking to the men in his squad says,"books about war were written to be read by God Almighty, because no one but God ever saw it that way. A book about war, to be read by men, ought to tell what each of the twelve of us saw in our own little corner. Then it would be the way it was - not to God but to us." Shiloh is definitely a "man's-eye" view of the battle - every chapter consisting of first person accounts from various narrators, Union and Confederate, telling only of what transpires in their own little corner. This proves to be an effective device for dramatically portraying the battle as it was experienced by those who fought it rather than giving the perspective of the historians who study it.
Foote avoids not only the omniscient perspective, but that of the commanders as well; equally rejecting God and generals in telling his tale. The narrators that Foote uses in his story are the young men who fought the battle. They are all either common soldiers or young junior officers with no voice in the planning of strategy or authority to direct its execution.
Because of Foote's choice of narrators, it proved difficult to include certain background information about the commanders of the armies that fought the battle. Rather than leave this information out, Foote included it in expositional passages that sounded forced and awkward coming from his young narrators. This is the only flaw in an otherwise outstanding "boots on the ground" tale of war, and is easy to forgive when balanced against the books many virtues.

Theo Logos

Published in 1952, Shelby Foote's fourth novel, attracted minimal public attention, but the critics and individuals in publishing took notice. One of them was Bennett Cerf of Random House who then afforded Foote the oppurtunity to write a short, one volume history of the Civil War. The rest, as they say, is history.

Back to the novel. Shiloh is simple enough, a relatively short novel which is simply about what the title says, a story of the April 1862 battle which produced the first battle where the casualties equalled that of Waterloo, some 47 years earlier. Foote does what Michael Shaara would do in his Pulitzer Prize winning Killer Angels nearly 20 years later; view the battle with altering Union and Confederate viewpoints. The difference is that when Foote has a historical character speak (like Ulysses Grant or Nathan Bedford Forrest) it's the words they were definitely known to use at the battle. Nothing on the real life characters is made up. Not that Killer Angels comes up short. It's arguably the greatest Civil War novel ever written, but you can see the blueprint of it in Shiloh.

I enjoyed this novel very much. It got me to want to read the three volume narrative. I think that this is probably better than most historical accounts of Shiloh. It's certainly more entertaining.

Shelby Foote has maintained that he is a story teller above all things. Yet, he has come to be considered a leading expert on the American Civil War because of his trilogy on the war. In Shiloh: A Novel, he gives us a fictional account of the two-day battle of April 1862.

Foote tells the story of 6 different participants in the battle, both Union and Confederate. The men are tired, scared, brave, leaders, and runners. The book is short, only 226 pages, but we feel their fear and excitment, even if only for a moment, along with their short-sighted view of the fighting. Here there is no grand view of the entire battle nor of the tactics and planning. These are largely the fighters who carry out the orders, not knowing why most of the time, only that they are soldiers and this is what they do.

Originally published well before the Shaara trilogy, Shiloh ranks with them and The Red Badge of Courage in the emotion and story telling. The reader becomes part of the action for a short while, until you can almost smell the gunpowder.

I highly regard Foote's earlier works as a author of the Civil War such as his Civil War Trilogy and Vicksburg Beleagured City. Encouraged by his previous books I wanted to try this one. I was a bit discouraged by a novel-like writing although each story is based from history and tends build a great feel and understanding for the battle. In comparison to his Vicksburg book, this can not be done. If you are seeking a book based on events, dates, places, people and casualties this book isn't the one. If you are looking at a fictional character's account backed by history simply to feel certain aspects of the battle this is a great book. It reminds me of Shaara's Killer Angels about Gettysburg though doesn't live up to the expectations set by such a book. It is a mere attempt at fictional characters derived from actual history to portray events. On a brighter note, the writing is descriptive and truly places the reader on or at the events written.

This book is about a boy named Marty who is trying to save his dog Shilo. A man named Judd Travers, a man who never had any kindness, gets help from Marty and his dog. I think this book encourages young people to read. I give this book 5 stars.