Order of Book Series
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Shelby Foote Books in Order

Shelby Foote has written 13 books, published between 1949 and 1996. The first book is Tournament (1949) and the newest is The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy (1996). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
13
Published
1949–1996
Pages on record
2,805 in 10 of 13 books
Reading time
47–70 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 2,805 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 10 of 13 titles with a page count on record.

See all 13 books in order Printable Shelby Foote checklist

Shelby Foote (1916-2005) was an American writer and journalist who thought of himself first as a novelist and is now known above all for The Civil War: A Narrative, the three-volume history published as Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958), Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963) and Red River to Appomattox (1974). The fiction runs from Tournament (1949) through Follow Me Down (1950), Love in a Dry Season (1951), Shiloh (1952), Jordan County (1954) and September, September (1978). Foote's roots were in the Mississippi Delta, and the work follows the South from the agrarian planter system to the Civil Rights era. Thirteen books are catalogued to 1996.

How many Shelby Foote books are there?

Shelby Foote has 13 books, released between 1949 and 1996.

Shelby Foote Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 13 Shelby Foote books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Tournament by Shelby Foote (1949)
  2. Cover of Follow Me Down by Shelby Foote (1950)
  3. Cover of Love in a Dry Season by Shelby Foote (1951)
  4. Cover of Shiloh by Shelby Foote (1952)
  5. Cover of Jordan County by Shelby Foote (1954)
  6. Cover of The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote, book 1 of the Civil War series (1958)
  7. Cover of The Civil War, Vol. 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian by Shelby Foote, book 2 of the Civil War series (1963)
  8. Cover of The Civil War, Vol. 3: Red River to Appomattox by Shelby Foote, book 3 of the Civil War series (1974)
  9. Cover of September, September by Shelby Foote (1978)
  10. Cover of Chickamauga and Other Civil War Stories by Shelby Foote, book 4 of the Civil War series (1993)
  11. Cover of Stars in Their Courses by Shelby Foote (1994)
  12. Cover of The Beleaguered City by Shelby Foote (1995)
  13. Cover of The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy by Shelby Foote (1996)
  1. 1
    Tournament1949 · 270 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1949270
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Follow Me Down1950 · 271 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1950271
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Love in a Dry Season1951 · 250 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1951250
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Shiloh1952 · 226 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1952226
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Jordan County1954 · 298 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1954298
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to PerryvilleCivil War #11958 · confirmed 2/4
    1958–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Civil War, Vol. 2: Fredericksburg to MeridianCivil War #21963 · confirmed 2/4
    1963–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The Civil War, Vol. 3: Red River to AppomattoxCivil War #31974 · confirmed 2/4
    1974–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    September, September1978 · 302 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978302
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Chickamauga and Other Civil War StoriesCivil War #41993 · 241 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1993241
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Stars in Their Courses1994 · 290 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1994290
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    The Beleaguered City1995 · 347 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995347
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy1996 · 310 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1996310
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Shelby Foote books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Civil War in order

4 books
  1. 1. The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville
  2. 2. The Civil War, Vol. 2: Fredericksburg to Meridian
  3. 3. The Civil War, Vol. 3: Red River to Appomattox
  4. 4. Chickamauga and Other Civil War Stories

Standalone books

9 books

9 Shelby Foote titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Shelby Foote books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 13 Shelby Foote books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Shelby Foote

Start with Tournament (1949), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Shelby Foote book?

The Correspondence of Shelby Foote and Walker Percy (1996) is the newest Shelby Foote book released so far.

Is there a new Shelby Foote book coming?

No next Shelby Foote book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Shelby Foote has won

Wikidata records 3 awards and 1 nomination for Shelby Foote. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Helmerich Award2003Won
  • St. Louis Literary Award1992Won
  • Dos Passos Prize1988Won
  • National Book Award for Nonfiction1959Shortlisted

Shelby Foote at a glance

Died
Shelby Foote died in 2005, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Shelby Foote on record dates from 1996.
Release pace
Shelby Foote books have appeared about one every 4 years on average.
Length
2,805 pages across the 10 of 13 books with a recorded length, a median of 280 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Shelby Foote books, 5 of 13, were published in the 1950s.

What the Shelby Foote books are about

12 of the 13 Shelby Foote books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 5 of 12. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.