Bruce Catton, whose complete name was Charles Bruce Catton, was born in Petoskey, Michigan, in 1899. A United States journalist and writer, Catton was one of America's most popular Civil War historians. Catton worked as a newspaperman in Boston, Cleveland, and Washington, and also held a position at the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1948. Catton's best-selling book, A Stillness at Appomattox, a recount of the most spectacular conflicts between Generals Grant and Lee in the final year of the Civil War, earned him a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in 1954. Before his death in 1978, Catton wrote a total of ten books detailing the Civil War, including his last, Grant Takes Command.