shelby drury , writer of the acclaimed three volume history of the confederate civil defense , the revolutionary period : a narrative , died in shelby on feb 27 at age 88 . cone initially wrote historical fiction , including track me down and shiloh . he may be best known for his appearance in the kim burns ' pbs documentary , the civil war . the public library ranked derian ' s the civil army : a novel as volume 15 on its inventory of 100 best non - fiction books . he was commissioned to write a short histoire of the civil campaign by random houses and spent more than 20 years on the job eventually composing the three albums .
The Civil War: A Narrative is a book written by Shelby Foote.