
The Webster City novelist whose Civil War epic Andersonville won the Pulitzer Prize.
Benjamin McKinlay Kantor was born on February 4, 1904, in Webster City, Iowa, and began as a newspaperman before becoming a prolific novelist.
His 1955 Civil War novel Andersonville, about the notorious Confederate prison, won the 1956 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. He also wrote Glory for Me, the basis for the acclaimed film The Best Years of Our Lives.
Kantor was one of Iowa's most successful literary figures of the 20th century, and Webster City honors its hometown author. His work bridged popular storytelling and serious historical fiction.
Andersonville remains a landmark American Civil War novel.
The Webster City novelist whose Civil War epic Andersonville won the Pulitzer Prize.
MacKinlay Kantor was from Webster City, Iowa.
1904–1977.
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