or popular narrative historian of the Civil War.

或者说是著名的内战叙事历史学家
He wrote some seven books or so,

从上世纪五十年代到到七十年代
from the late 1950s through the 1960s into the '70s.

他一共写了差不多七本书
He wrote them around the time of the Civil War centennial.

这些书差不多都写于内战发生一百年后
He was not an academic historian,

他不是学术型的历史学家
he was a journalist and a former war correspondent in the Second World War,

他只是个记者一个前二战通讯员
and the man had a beautiful sense of narrative.

他十分擅长叙事
This is Catton from his book Terrible Swift Sword,

这是我从柯顿的《残酷之刃》中摘录的一段
which is 1862, the year of 1862 of the Civil War.

故事发生在1862年内战仍未结束
He's trying to capture

他试图描绘出内战的气氛
the situation, the strategic situation,

南北双方的胶着状况
the emotional sentimental situation

当时人们的感伤情绪