Although he now makes his home in Memphis, Tennessee, Shelby Foote comes from a long line of Mississippians. He was born in Greenville, Mississippi, and attended school there until he entered the University of North Carolina. During the Second World War, he served in Europe as a captain of field artillery. He has written six novels: Tournament, Follow Me Down, Love in a Dry Season, Shiloh, Jordan County and September, September. While writing The Civil War: A Narrative he was awarded three Guggenheim fellowships.