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Summary: Fictional Story of a Battle similar to Battle of Gettysburg
Review: This novel is a fictional narrative of a battle that resembles the Battle of Gettysburg. Please remember this! This book is no more a historical account of the Battle of Gettysburg than Colleen McCullough's "First Man in Rome" is an account of the life of Marius and Sulla.If you want to know about the Battle of Gettysburg, read Coddington's masterpiece, or try Pfanz's excellent books. Thomas Desjardin also wrote a very good book about the 20th Maine and the real Joshua L. Chamberlain. Desjardin puts the 20th Maine's intense skirmish with the 15th Alabama on Vincent's Spur into perspective. Shaara unfortunately places considerable emphasis on the engagement because it makes for a dramatic story, not because it was of monumental historical significance. In their first real taste of battle, the ~450 brave boys from Maine outfought the battlehardened ~450 soldiers from Alabama using superior tactics and advantageous terrain. Had the 20th Maine fled however, the exhausted, thirsty, and unsupported 15th Alabama would have run into the virtually uninjured 83rd Pennsylvania. The significance of the 20th Maine's success was that these raw troops killed, wounded, or captured more than they themselves were killed, wounded, or captured. They did not, however, by their actions that day save the Union. I must also take exception with Shaara's bizarre portrayal of Lee. Douglas Freeman's biography of Lee is the place to look for a historical account of Lee. If you are looking for a fictional tale set during the Civil War, this may be the book for you. If, however, you want to know what happened at Gettysburg and why, look elsewhere.
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Summary: Excellent listening
Review: George Hearn and Ronald F. Maxwell do a superb job of reading Michael Shaara's already excellent text. Hearn's voice in particular brings the characters alive: he does an excellent job of distinguishing each character's voice and articulating each one in a manner that is true to the image evoked by Shaara. His reading is clear and forceful. Lee's voice is soft and dignified, as it should be; Pickett's is playful and youthful; Chamberlain's is thoughtful and studied, careful in his choice of words; Armistead's is wistful; Longstreet's is taciturn, resigned, and practical. It is a genuine delight to hear someone read a text so well.
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Summary: History brought to life
Review: What a fantastic book. I've always wanted to meet Robert E. Lee, and now I feel I have. Not only did I get a chance to meet the general, I got to meet a whole host of his contemporaries. While Mr. Shaara could not actually read the minds of these long gone figures, he did base his interpretation of their thoughts on surviving correspondence. Nevertheless, it was a masterful stroke to make these characters as fully human as this work does with the limited clues available in their letters and journals. If you have any interest in vicariously taking part in one of this nations most influential historical events, I strongly recommend letting Mr. Shaara be your guide.
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Summary: Remarkable...
Review: This novel has no words to describe it...it is truly wonderful. I read it in the 7th grade...before our class fieldtrip to Gettysburg and I loved it so much..I bought the rest of the series. It may look long...but doesn't take long to finish. It taught me a lot about Gettysburg...now I'm like a book on it!! And if you like it...Care to watch the Movie "Gettysburg"..Based on the Killer Angels. It is one of my FAVORITE BOOKS =D
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Summary: amazingly written
Review: I had to choose a book to read for AP history and Killer Angels was reccomended to me. I began to read and was enthralled. The description and feeling Shaara puts in makes the book come alive. Seeing the movie or the battlefield helps too. It is a very accurate depiction of the battle in all fields--social, economic, political, religious. It focuses on both Northern and Southern commanders. The end, Picketts Charge, is so moving. The music I was listening to, the end of Jen Knapp's Kansas, was perfect. The Southern commanders were questioning their judgements, Pickett exclaims "I have no division, sir". The a cappella lyrics "through another day another trial another chance to reconcile...reaching out my weary hand...you're the only one who's faithful to me". The South was broke and the war had turned around--they had been through a great trial and many of the commanders in the charge felt betrayed, Lee was alienated by them, but still revered. An awesome book to read.
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Summary: An Immortal Classic
Review: Not only will you learn more about Gettysburg and the U.S. Civil War in general, but Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" is an easy read. Even those with the least of historical knowledge can follow along with leaders Lee, Longstreet, and Chamberlain as they fight for their respective sides and try to make out just what is going on around them. Shaara masterfully describes the three main characters throughout the book. Lee, a dissilusioned leader that believes his men are invincible, Longstreet, Lee's right hand and "War Horse", who is miserably trying to put an end to the war, and Chamberlain, a professor turned colonel who's about to run into some of the thickest fighting of the battle. Shaara's writing style is dry and very to the point. When you read, it's as if you are standing right next to Chamberlain during the second day as he orders a charge. Shaara describes intimately the knowledge around you; the environment is totally immersive. The story turns heartbraking as you realize some of the relationships the soldiers have with their past and friends. For example, Longstreet blames his grumpiness on the death of his children, and the deep friendship between Confederate general Armistead and Union general Hancock as they face each other in a mile-wide charge. Shaara never got the fame deserved for this book because it was released during Vietnam. Fame did not come until the early 1990's when the feature film based on his book, "Gettysburg", was released. Sadly Shaara passed away before the film was released. "The Killer Angels" inspired Shaara's son, Jeff, to write a prequel and a sequel, in which both are underway for movie treatment. "The Killer Angels" is, in my opinion, one of the top five books about history. It should be included on a list for some of the best books ever written.
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Summary: The Killer Angels
Review: "The Killer Angels" has become an American literary/historic classic. It is a novel worth ready on many levels; good story plot, interesting personalities/characters, basic historical integrety. The reader becomes almost personally involved with each person in the novel and is alternatively either saddend or happy with their fate at the books end. A very good introduction for anyone remotely interested in pursuing further Civil War studies. It's an wonderfull book and the author, the late Michael Shera, fully deserves all the acolades he still receives. Simply beautifully written.
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Summary: Oh Know
Review: When I was first assigned to read this book for my 8th grade enlish class, I thought it was going to be incredibly boring. Boy was I wrong. This is a capturing book, and it doesn't make you like the Union over the Confederate, or visa versa. Before I read it, I didn't know much at all about the Civil War, but I learned a lot by reading it.
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Summary: Historical fiction is amusing!
Review: This book is pulp romance for men. Lee in love with the war, everyone in love with Lee. (An oddly humble, broken Lee for this period in his life) Plus! You get the bonus beautiful story of the underdog, Chamberlin, the professor who pulls, "a textbook maneuver and won the battle" (as Ken Burns put it).
His point: the south was an integrated army of men who shared culture and opinions with amazing charismatic leaders (so amazing that he doesn't need to use any southern soldiers as characters), the northern army was a higgledy-piggledy mess of cultures of diverse opinions who overcome poor leadership through a series of interesting coincidences and win that battle for truth, freedom, and UNION!
Hot damn! Give me some o' that manliness from an uncomplicated time when black was certainly not white and women couldn't interfere in the process of proving one's manhood. The rules were set, the men were great and rode great horses, and the battle was a vote by god for the north.
As the battle hymn of the republic faithfully proclaims before each chapter: Glory, Glory Halleluiah! His truth is marching on!
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Summary: The Perfect Historical Fiction Novel
Review: Shaara's novel brings you into the War at Gettysburg and makes you admire and care for the soldiers on both sides of the line. The afterword on each of the main characters summarizing their lives after the War is extremely touching. You realize in the end they were all just Americans. I am a history buff, and this is the best book I have ever read.
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