Shiloh

Shiloh recounts one of the major battles of the Civil War through the overlapping first-person accounts of several participants. Rather than challenge the virtuosity of a soloist, Recorded Books has assembled a cast of 14 readers, including the author, for this recording. This is not, strictly speaking, an ensemble performance, much less a dramatization, because the readers never interact. Each character's monologue stands by itself. They are all very well done. The prevailing tone is low key, almost conversational, as if one is listening to men of mature years reflecting on events well in the past. A solid selection for general interest collections. J.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

April 8, 1991
In the deep South during the late 1950s, three bumbling white crooks kidnap the grandson of the richest black man in Memphis. ``Foote . . . has put together a very effective combination of suspense novel and family novel,'' said PW . ``The violent ending is completely convincing, exciting, yet not totally downbeat.'' (Apr.) The eminent Civil War historian's fictional re-creation of a Civil War battle, Shiloh , will also appear as a Vintage paperback in April ($9 ISBN 0-679-73542-9 ).