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Bruce Catton

ブルース・キャットン

Burūsu Kyaton

Aliases: Charles Bruce Catton

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1899-10-09 （Petoskey, Michigan）
Died
1978-08-28 （Frankfort, Michigan） age 78
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Religion
Congregationalist
Residence History
Benzonia, Michigan → Frankfort, Michigan

Career

Occupations
Journalist, Historian, Author, Editor
Active Years
1916-1978
Affiliations
Newspaper Enterprise Association, American Heritage, War Production Board

Education

Oberlin College
Period: 1916
Country: United States
Attended but did not complete degree. Honorary degree awarded in 1956.

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for History
1954
Work: A Stillness at Appomattox
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: Winner
National Book Award for Nonfiction
1954
Work: A Stillness at Appomattox
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Winner
Presidential Medal of Freedom
1977
Organization: United States Government
Result: Recipient
Special Pulitzer Prize citation
1961
Work: The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: Special citation

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A Stillness at Appomattox

1953 History

Study of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac in Virginia.

American Civil WarUnion ArmyAppomattox

Mr. Lincoln's Army

1951 History

First volume of Army of the Potomac trilogy on formation and early campaigns.

American Civil WarArmy of the Potomac

The Coming Fury

1961 History

Causes of the Civil War up to First Bull Run.

Causes of Civil War

Glory Road

1952 History

From Fredericksburg to Gettysburg.

American Civil WarGettysburg

This Hallowed Ground

1956 History

Single-volume history from Union perspective.

Civil War

Bibliography

  • The War Lords of Washington
  • Mr. Lincoln's Army
  • Glory Road
  • A Stillness at Appomattox
  • Grant Moves South
  • Grant Takes Command
  • The Coming Fury
  • Terrible Swift Sword
  • Never Call Retreat
  • This Hallowed Ground
  • America Goes to War
  • The American Heritage Picture History of the Civil War
  • Waiting for the Morning Train
  • Banners at Shenandoah

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Narrative styleEngaging characters and vignettesWell-researched popular history with footnotes
Recurring Motifs
American Civil WarUnion Army heroesHuman drama of battlefields

Health

  • Respiratory illness
    1978
    Cause of death.

Legacy

One of the most popular Civil War historians, known for narrative style that made history vivid and emotional. Won Pulitzer, National Book Award, and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Archives

  • Archives of The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina

In Popular Culture

  • Bruce Catton Prize awarded by Society of American Historians since 1984 for lifetime achievement in history writing.

Quotes

  • [These stories gave] a color and a tone not merely to our village life, but to the concept of life with which we grew up ... I think I was always subconsciously driven by an attempt to restate that faith and to show where it was properly grounded...
    Source: Waiting for the Morning Train (1972)
  • We intend to deal with that great, unfinished and illogically inspiring story of the American people doing, being and becoming.
    Source: American Heritage, first issue (1954)

Trivia

  • Raised by a Congregational minister father who was headmaster of Benzonia Academy.
  • Son William Bruce Catton was a historian and professor at Princeton and Middlebury.
  • Briefly served in U.S. Navy during World War I.
  • Published poetry collection Names from the War in 1960.