I've mentioned him before. I grew up reading his books,

我之前提到过他我从小看着他的书长大
Stillness at Appomattox, and so many others;

《阿波马托克斯的寂静》和许多其他书
the great popular historian of the Civil War in the '50s, '60s, '70s.

他是五十至七十年代著名的内战历史学家
And here was this little essay, by Catton, entitled

他的这篇小文
"The End of the Centennial, 1965."

名叫《百年的终结--1965》
Note the date, the centennial of the U.S. Civil War.

注意时间美国内战的百年
Catton and Nevins had been themselves directors,

卡顿和内文斯两人成为了董事和执行董事
executive-directors, presidents and vice-presidents,

总统和副总统
whatever they were called,

无论他们被称作什么
of the U.S. Centennial Commission for the Civil War,

在这个内战的百年委员会中
a commission that was in many ways a debacle

一个从哪个角度看都是一种失败的委员会
because it was all occurring--

因为该发生的都发生了