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Summary: The best history novel ever written: Gods and Generals
Review: Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara is a tremendously awesome book explaining the battles between the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Shaara did a wonderful job giving key details while making it interesting. Some history novels are so boring. People just read about what happened without enjoying the book because it would not have any people or scenes or anything because it is strictly summary. This book showed Shaara's true capability of teaching the reader while the reader is enjoying the book.
Before reading this book, I lacked a lot of knowledge pertaining to the Civil War. I did know the basics, it started with slavery and the Union won. Once I read the first chapter, I knew that it was going to be an overwhelming and an awe-inspiring book and I knew that I was going to learn a lot. I learned about each of the major generals, many of the major battles, and actions the people made. I went from knowing almost nothing to being a person with a good deal of knowledge regarding the subject of Civil War.
General Robert E. Lee was a major character and Jeff Shaara really focused on him as well as Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson from the Confederacy. From the Union, Shaara did not focus on one or two of the generals, it was more evened out. Although Shaara focuses on these two generals, I felt that I got to know each character and what they felt. That is one of Shaara's strengths when he writes, the reader feels like they get to know the characters.
It is impossible to characterize the greatnessof Gods and Generals and it is impossible to not have to the chance to read it. If you are want to read a book and learn while reading and enjoying, I strongly suggest that you buy this book and read it because those around you are going to want to borrow the book and read it as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Adventurous yet Educational
Review: Jeff Shaara was absolutely brilliant in the making of this book. His breathtaking ways of making the reader feel as if one was on the battlefield is spectacular. Personally, I feel that history can be boring at times, but Mr. Shaara makes it a vivid scene. Gods and Generals is a compelling and fascinating history book of the Civil War.
Gods and Generals was sectioned off into chapters of the leading figures of the Civil War, and their views on what was happening. Such as Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, a professor who taught at Maine's Bowdoin College who gave up a promising academic career to enlist in the Union army, then later went on to become one of the North's finest military leaders. Also an important figure for the North was Winfield Scott Hancock, a tremendous leader who was indispensable in any task appointed to him. Serving the South as probably the most essential general for them is General Robert E. Lee, who is forced to choose between allegiance to his country and loyalty to his home state, Virginia. As well as Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a religious man with past fighting experience in Mexico. Thriving on the heat of battle, Jackson played a significant role in this book and in the Civil War. Although Jeff Shaara talks a lot about the grueling and the pain that went out into the battlefields of the war, he also tells the story of the wives and families who were forced to assume responsibility at home. Resulting in the stunning Battle of Chancellorsville, Gods and Generals was very fascinating and gave me a much better idea on the Civil War.
Gods and Generals kept me wanting to read on and on, it is definitely the most interesting history book I have ever read. Jeff Shaara is a very passionate writer and takes pride in his work. I suggest that if one wants to get a lot of information on the Civil War but still be entertained and over the age of twelve, read Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara.
Rating: 
Summary: disappointment
Review: poorly written. nowhere near the writer michael was. sorry, but i did not like this book. best bet would be to re-read Killer Angels.
Rating: 
Summary: Nikhil's Review
Review: I read Gods and Generals for my US History class and found the experience very unique. Although the book did not particularly appeal to me, Civil War buffs would thoroughly enjoy it. The historical content is very accurate and paints a realistic picture of the Civil War and its ramifications. Shaara's style of viewing the war through the viewpoints of many historical figures including Lee, Hancock, Jackson, and Chamberlain vary the novel's overall viewpoint towards the war. I found this aspect very valuable, as it took the story beyond the facts found in a textbook and allowed me to experience the war through the actions and thoughts of key players in the war. By telling his story through the viewpoints of those on the Union side as well as the Confederate side Shaara was able to let readers pass their own judgment on the war. The detailed descriptions of the battles and descriptive insight into people's thoughts were excellent. These detailed accounts of every part of the war allowed me truly understand the horror of the Civil War. Overall, this book is a great read for anyone with a passion for history, but a bit of a drag for people who are not interested by the Civil War.
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Summary: J.S's tale that takes you inside some famous Civil War minds
Review: I believe that Jeff Shaara's book Gods and Generals is a masterful look inside the heads of some of the Civil War's most famous generals. It gives the reader a deep sense of friendship with these men as you read each page. With every turn you feel closer and closer to these men as you follow them through what became history. Jeff Shaara has taken a new approach at trying to explain what went on in the Civil War through both Northern and Southern eyes. I believe this fresh approach gives life to the the part of the Civil War genre that has become simple fact-listing. That is why I believe this book is an excellent choice for interested readers Civil War type books.
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Summary: Loved it.
Review: I loved this book. I'm only thirteen, and even i got into this book. it's full of blood and emotion, and i would have given it five stars, but for the fact that one of my favorite charecters died. Reading historical fiction is the only way i can learn about history, so i've read quite a few, and i absoultly loved this one. Terribly sad book, but also exciting. read it.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal!
Review: Gods and Generals is fantastic! I am in love with this book. I am in love with Generals Lee, Jackson, and Hancock. Jeff Shaara made every character a real, human person that the reader comes to know. He made all the events and battles realistic and you feel like you are there with the men, watching from above.Shaara's writing style is engaging and enveloping; from the very beginning it just sweeps you along. This book even made me cry. I highly recommend Gods and Generals. I even like it better than The Killer Angels, which is also a wonderful novel. They work really well together.
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Summary: An Extraordinary Novel, Shaara Strikes Gold!
Review: Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara is the prequal to the Pulitxer Prize winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Gods and Generals follows the lives of 4 men in the turbulent days leading up to the Civil War until just before the Battle of Gettysburg. Thomas Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Winfield Scott Hancock and JOshua Chamberlain are the 4 main characters and in the mix we see glimpses of some of the best known soldiers and civilians of the Civil War Era, including JOhn Brown, JEB Stuart, McClellan, Burnside, Longstreet and Hooker. Shaara's talent for writing is obvious in the first lines of this work. He is able to capture both the triumph and tragedy of the Civil War. When it comes of the battles, his accuracy is almost complete. Shaara does his research and provides the reader with the thrilling idea of being inside a historical figures mind. The only complaint I can make is that he does not delve into the insanity that strayed just beneath the surface with Jackson, instead promoting Jackson's obvious if misguided religious beliefs. Although Gods and Generals was made into a subpar movie, it is a first rate story with compelling character and explosive drama. Well done Shaara.
Rating: 
Summary: Above average
Review: I was going to try and not draw comparison's with "The Killer Angels," but the fact of the matter is that Gods and Generals isn't as great as it's touted to be. The usual excuse given is that it covers too large a time frame and too many battles, whereas his father's work with Killer Angels was focused on Gettsyburg and that week or so around it. Valid point. However, the writing of G&G is par at best. It has nothing to do with the time frame or amount of battles. I think he spends a little too much time in the prelude to war and then when it actually gets to the "good part" (the battles) it seems rushed. Antietam is hardly mentioned. The fight in the cornfield could have been the high point of the book just as the battle for round top was a high point in Killer Angels. Simply put, G&G doesn't have that one poignant chapter that you can hang your hat on. I suppose the death of Jackson and assault on Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg give the best shot at this. However, as I mentioned, the writing is par, maybe above par at best. I've read better descriptions of the emotions, pain, confusion and horror by many non fiction authors (Foote and Catton to name just a couple). That being said. If you are totally un-informed about the civil war and your knowledge of it is basically what you learned in high school, then you may find the book a little more fascinating. Basically because you don't have the knowledge to fill in the blanks and can make these leaps of time and place to keep up with the author. But once you've studied the real drama of Antietam, Manassas, 2nd Manassas, even the 7 days, it's tough to swallow. And for the record, I read G&G before Killer Angels. So it's not like I was looking back with a tainted eye. In fact, after hearing all the great remarks of G&G, I was a little disappointed. It almost prevented me from reading Killer Angels. However, the reputation of KA, the fact that it won the Pulitzer, and many more highly tauted remarks drew me back in. If you don't believe me and haven't read KA, try reading the first 10 pages and you'll see what I mean about the difference in writing quality.
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Summary: A balanced and insightful novel of the early Civil War.
Review: This is a superb novel of the early Civil War. Jeff Shaara uses the same format that his father used in the great novel "The Killer Angels" (the story of the Battle of Gettysburg) to tell the story of the early Civil War days. Shaara's novel shows us the war as seen through the eyes of Winfield S. Hancock, Joshua Chamberlain, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The format works. This is a tremendously entertaining novel and fabulously educational to boot. I truly felt after reading the novel that I understood what it was like in those early frenetic days, as the country and the US Army split, with people choosing sides, North and South, for the coming conflict. What an incredible and sad time that must have been! The novel is less pro-Southern than the movie "Gods and Generals" and unlike the movie, the novel does not drag, and the storyline moves along briskly, holding the reader's interest at all times. I felt that Shaara presented a balanced view of the two sides. The South was motivated by a love of, and loyalty to, home and hearth much more that it was motivated by slavery, although I personally believe that slavery was beyond any doubt the root cause of the war. (This does not mean that slavery is what motivated the people of the South to fight.) The North, of course, was fighting to preserve the American union as one indivisible nation as Northerners believed that the Founding Fathers intended for it to be. These were great and stirring causes, which Shaara brings out beautifully, and it took a great war to resolve their inconsistencies. This book goes far in explaining and telling how it must have been to be a soldier or politician in that pivotal time. "Gods and Generals" is a worthy prequel to the bestselling "The Killer Angels" and any Civil War buff will want to read it several times. This is a deep and detailed book and in my opinion to fully appreciate it most readers will probably read it more than once. I did, and it was time well spent.
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