[.ca] The Killer Angels (ISBN 0375433104)

From Amazon.com:
This novel reveals more about the Battle of Gettysburg than any piece of learned nonfiction on the same subject. Michael Shaara's account of the three most important days of the Civil War features deft characterizations of all of the main actors, including Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, Buford, and Hancock. The most inspiring figure in the book, however, is Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose 20th Maine regiment of volunteers held the Union's left flank on the second day of the battle. This unit's bravery at Little Round Top helped turned the tide of the war against the rebels. There are also plenty of maps, which convey a complete sense of what happened July 1-3, 1863. Reading about the past is rarely so much fun as on these pages.

Why Study War Anymore: Echoes of Preceding Generations.:
My title is a takeoff on a 60s-70s chant--"We will study war no more." Michael Shaara's book, which won a Pulitzer in 1974, shows why we SHOULD study war. He has taken his vast knowledge of the Civil War in general, and Gettysbury in particular, and shaped an historical novel, not exceedingly long, than delves into the lives, motivations, thoughts, feelings, and goals, of many types of people who participated in this great struggle for definition of what it is to be American, to be a citizen of the United States (which, after the war, noted Shelby Foote, a singular noun). In my opinion, and knowing personally about Europeans' interest in our Civil War, this book belongs in the Canon of the Literature of Western Civilization...how can I say this? It isn't just because I'm interested in the same topic. On a recent airline flight, I had the opportunity to spend about an hour explaining "To Kill a Mockingbird" to a young European woman who was assigned that book to read in a high school in Texas....she was in her senior year, with a father in the oil business. Four months later, I received an e-mail, thanking me for that time, and she commented that her teacher was amazed that she had understood the book, and the issues (the enduring prejudice against blacks in the South long after "Reconstruction." Why is it relevant? We think we "reconstructed" Europe after World War II--and she realized we hadn't. The same problems we have 140 years after the spring campaigns of 1864, we also see in Europe only 60 years after the dawning of D-Day. We have International Courts, the EU, common currencies, almost instantaneous communication worldwide, and what progress has been made? A reading of the Killer Angels will stay with you, cause you to think, and demand that YOUR children study war. And so help us, the more who understand it, the better.

A great history lesson:
The author brings the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War to life in this wonderful novel. He uses the alternating views from the officers of both sides of the conflict, thus making you feel as you are right with them, culminating in the horrific and tragic end of the battle. There is a whole lot more to the tale than you remember from our history lessons in school (public schools = nothing much learned), and I was truly saddened by the incredible loss of life due to the mistakes of the priveleged few, the generals. No wonder they say Gettysburg is one of the most haunted places in America. Highly recommended, an entertaining read and an excellent history lesson in the bargain.

Wow.:
The Killer Angels is one of, if not the greatest and most compassionately written war books of anybody's generation. By showing both sides of the fight without showing favorites, Shaara really does show that there are no winners in war. He gets through all the myths and goes straight to the meaning of this legendary battle. Taking place in the few days before and after the Battle of Gettysburg, Shaara depicts a feeling of camaraderie and hope in both armies. The main characters, such as Peter Longstreet, Joshua Chamberlain, and Robert Lee, are beautifully developed and readers will get up close and personal with their thoughts and feelings of what is going on during their day. The South is portrayed not as slave drivers with a thirst for power, but rather as people fighting for what they believe in. As a soldier for the Confederacy put it, the war was not about slavery. Instead it is as if the South joined a club, and as easily as they were admitted, they want out, but the North will not have that. Placed through out the book is a series of maps to better the understanding of the peril of each army's stance in the war. Greatly researched, the maps provide positions of different brigades and squadrons, their general, and an estimate, shown in size, of how many soldiers are in each group. Shaara also seperaes the book into different days, starting on day 1 and ending on day 4. The first two days are spent explaining each army's predicaments and feelings of their situations. The second two are an in-depth portrayal of the losses and emotional roller coaster war can rage on soldiers. Not being an avid Civil War enthusiast, several people recommended this book to me, and it could not have been a better suggestion. This book surpasses far and beyond what a movie could in entertainment and educational value. I found myself flipping page after page as I became engrossed in Michael Shaara's interpretation of the American Civil War in, The Killer Angels.

Three Days of Fury.:
I was always interested in Americas' Civil War and had read some excellent books on the subject such as "A Brotherhood of Valor", "Through Blood and Fire at Gettysburg", "Battle Cry of Freedom" but "The Killer Angels" is a very special one. Michael Shaara has performed an excellent research on private papers of the protagonists of this battle. Based on this material he produce a griping story, presenting the men that march to the tragic encounter, with their ideals, memories, sorrows, doubts, hopes. He follows Generals Lee and Longstreet, Colonel Chamberlain among others, penetrating their most intimate thoughts in a way the reader can't avoid wondering how is it possible. Mr. Shaara does not pick sides, he presents the reader with the confronting "Cause", which every man into the field believes to be just, and for which is willing to shed his blood. The valor and self sacrifice these men deploy, is reflected in each page of this incredible good book. Enough maps are shown enabling the reader to follow the displacement of the armies in the field. For the readers interested in this matter, the son of Michael Shaara, Jeff, has written "Gods & Generals" and "The Last Full Measure" telling the events preceding and following this crucial struggle.

This book is cool = D:
The Killer Angels reviewed by Joseph Lee The Killer Angels, written by Michael Shaara, will surely not disappoint the fans of books on war and battles. Shown by this novel, it seems that Michael Shaara is an expert at this topic of story. This novel will keep you intensely caught up as if you were reading straight out of a Civil War journal that got every glimpse of the battle of Gettysburg. It's not a surprise that this book has won the Pulitzer Prize. With its maps and its well-written text that people can understand in very well, the novel is easy to follow through. Even though this novel is only based on three days, it will give out very good information. The book is mainly based on the characters of General Robert E. Lee and General Mead. Although they are the main characters, many sections of the novel are put towards General Chamberlain, General Longstreet, General Buford, and General Pickett. Each chapter goes to a general and his men. It reveals the things they went through and what kind of fighting each regiment had through both eyes of the Confederate and the Union. This novel truly showed what two sides of one nation and the dreams of both sides were fighting for in the four bloodiest days of the United States of Americas history. This novel makes a reenactment in your head. Showing that not only did the soldiers go into war with just orders, but with honor, pride, dreams, vengeance, and moral issues that was stirred up by the society of the 1800's. As Michael Shaara shows the generals, he doesn't just tell the reader a story but he brings in the reader by showing the mind of the Generals. Shaara shows things like the strategies the Generals had, the ideas that the Generals came up with, how the Generals felt about the other side, and on what they felt about the war (why their in it and why should they be). For anyone who wants to know more about the Civil War or just wants a great a good adventure, this book is strongly recommended. I feel this book was just extraordinary in detail and in climax. Chapter after chapter the climax builds and builds and even though the reader knows what went on in the war, this novel is still strongly recommended. This novel may just give the reader some things they didn't know.