In memory of the greatest Civil War historian

[wombat_socho]

John Miller of National Review pens a gorgeous little essay on the life of Bruce Catton. Catton, obviously, is one of my favorite historians, and I think is responsible not only for the shift in military history from generals and admirals to privates and seamen, but also for the spread of "popular" military history - the stuff written not as a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation, but to inform and amuse the public. Catton and others like him (for example, Samuel Eliot Morison and S.L.A. Marshall) are the reason that military history is thriving even though academia has turned up its nose at the subject. People want heroes.