I would like to commend Geoffrey C. Ward for his comments on Shelby Foote’s fine work (December 1987). I can’t conceive of any historian, amateur or professional, who hasn’t enjoyed The Civil War: A Narrative . The thought that narrative ability somehow stamps a work as not serious or unscholarly is absurd. Let those who believe this suffer for their pedantic tendencies. I am pleased that Foote’s book is. again, in print. It’s a perfect excuse to reread this classic.