Rating: 
Summary: Good Book, Looking forward to the movie
Review: Gods and Generals is a good but not perfect book (what book is?). I agree that the battle descriptions could have been longer. I wish the author would have depicted Stonewall Jackson at First Bull Run and showed him in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862. I was so interested in the depiction of Sandie Pendleton, Jackson's Aide, I had to pick up a book entitled "Stonewall's Man" by W.G. Bean a full and excellent biography. While looking through some of the lower ratings of "Gods and Generals" I did find mistakes in their reviews. Someone says that it would be far-fetched for Lee to capture John Brown at Harpers Ferry but that is exactly what happened, read the historical record. And another person says that the reaction of Jackson at the execution of John Brown is inaccurate. Please read Burke Davis' "They Called Him Stonewall" and you will find out that the reaction of Jackson in the book is historically accurate.
Rating: 
Summary: Hear the Rebel War Cry!
Review: I read Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" before I read 'Gods and Generals'. I wish I would have read the series in historical chronological order, instead of the published order. I also had limited basic knowledge of 'The Civil War' before I found this awesome series. Also, If you have similar interest as me and enjoy historical fiction versus many of the dry collegiate history books, this series is for you!! Not only did 'Gods and Generals' enlighten me with very detailed understanding of the Battles of the Civil War, but I was completely clueless about such information such as: Reasons the Civil really started, Why the states decided to withdrawal from the Union, and How the Generals became Generals. This was a history lesson that I couldn't get anywhere else!Gods and Generals begins after the Mexican War and before Lincoln is elected to office. When the states began to withdrawal from the Union, the U.S soldiers were torn with a decision to defend their oath to the 'United States' or their homeland state. You follow many key soldiers of both sides of the war from Fort Sumter to Chancellorsville. You learn who was promoted and how many Union Generals were demoted after senselessly sending Union soldiers to their deaths time and time again. The battles are well written with strong imagery of the tactical and strategic struggles that caused victory or defeat. I am amazed that the North won the war. I will look forward to reading 'The Last Full Measure' and Jeff Shaara's Gone for Soldiers.
Rating:
Summary: good novel
Review: gave accurate representation of war life from both sides. Very touching when two firends decide to split up and fight on diff sides
Rating:
Summary: Great Prelude to his fathers novel
Review: Jeff Shaara has succeeded in writing an excellent to his fathers novel "The Killer Angels". This novel focuses on the lives of several of the soon to be principle men of the Civil War in the years preceding the war up through the battle of Chancelorsville. Shaara describes in excellent detail the religious zeal that Stonewall Jackson exhibited as well as the deeply religious Robert E. Lee. Shaara also does an excellent job describing the low morale of the Federal troops as they get many different commanders who lead them to defeat. I recommend this book to everyone with an interest in the Civil War.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I have read three books by Jeff Shaara so far and I love this type of novel. Shaara researches his books very well and, I believe, that this book as well as his Dad's book Killer Angels and Jeff's follow up book The Last Full Measure give a very balanced view of the conflicts of the Civil War. I believe these books should be required reading for high school students because it makes history come alive. They start looking at Lee and Jackson and Chamberlain as real men struggling with the worst time in our country's history.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Historical Fiction
Review: This is the type of historical fiction that makes you feel like the conversations, thoughts, and motives were really said and thought by the main characters. This is what a good read is all about. Gods and Generals explores the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville through the exploits, thoughts, and possible conversations of Generals Lee, Jackson, Hancock, and Chamberlain. The writing style of going from one General to another makes for a quick and captivating read by changing the perspectives of the same events (battles). I could not put this book down! I was not sure if I would like this book at first (not being a fan of historical fiction, but rather a huge fan of the Civil War), but it captured me within the first 50 pages. A perfect intro to his father's Killer Angels, which I may have to now go back and reread for the third time.
Rating: 
Summary: From a VMI graduate
Review: I rate this book on its own, not having read it as a prequel to the author's father's Gettysburg sequel. I have read J. I. Robertson's "Stonewall Jackson, man/soldier/legend".
In my opinion, this is dull, boring claptrap, suitable only for the least discriminating reader. The characterizations could be interchangable. This is true hackwork, supposedly based on the fathers' reputedly better work. It may be "good reading" for some re-enactor who enjoys spending time off with other cretins slogging thru the mud playing war games, but not for me.
If you doubt my worthiness to judge this work, I offer this:
I read about 2-3 books per week, and many magazines.
I graduated from VMI in 1962 with a BS in Chemistry, and a Regular Army Field Artillery commission.
I spent 6.5 years in the army, with the 101st Airborne, 8th Inf Div in Germany, 25th Inf Div in Vietnam [where I experienced a year of real war], and finally teaching Artillery Communications to Captains and Majors at Ft. Sill. I have a Bronze Star and two awards of the Army Commendation Medal... I then spent 2.5 years back at VMI teaching chemistry, and over 26 years with the Drug Enforcement Administration, retiring in 1995 as a Senior Forensic Chemist, specializing in computer programming for H-P analytical instruments.
And I say [it] ...in no way depicts reality, except as a dull "...Hollywoodized" recitation of facts reported better elsewhere. Find another way to spend your money...
Rating:
Summary: SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE (CAST LIST INCLUDED)!
Review: Once again, Shaara evokes what it must have felt like to be at these battles with these men! A must read for all Civil War buffs! Grade: A+ *Cast List for the film adaptation by Ronald F. Maxwell:
-ROBERT DUVALL ("Days of Thunder") as Robert E. Lee
-JEFF DANIELS ("Gettysburg") as Joshua Lawerence Chamberlain
-BRUCE BOXLEITNER ("Babylon 5") as James Longstreet
-C. THOMAS HOWELL ("The Outsiders") as Thomas Chamberlain
-KEVIN CONWAY ("Gettysburg") as Kilrain
-ROYCE D. APPLEGATE ("Seaquest DSV") as Kemper
-TED TURNER as Colonel Patton
-STEPHEN LANG ("The Amazing Panda Adventure") as Jackson
Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: Gods and Generals, Jeff Shaara's prequel to Killer Angels, is a well written novel detailing the years prior to the outbreak of the civil war and ending just before Killer Angels begins. In it Mr. Shaara explores the motivations of such great leaders as General Robert Lee and and Joshua Chamberlain, attempting to help us understand how this terrible conflict came about. While I enjoyed this novel just as much as the other two in the series, I did feel it should have been longer. I would have liked more detailed descriptions of some of the battles, including Antietam and First Manassas. While I can understand why the author choose to only give short descriptions of most of the engagements, I feel he could have made them longer. In the end, this novel is a great piece of historical fiction, something which should please any civil war buff. The most poignant part of the novel is a description of General Jackson's relationship with a 4 year old child during the winter of '62/'63. The humanity of the man is captured by Shaara in such a way that I was left in tears. When you read the novel you will see what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent and yet Heartbreaking
Review: "God and Generals" by Jeff Shaara is a terrific story of the horrors our nation underwent 140 years ago during the Civil War. Told from the view point of Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, Winfield Hancock and Joshua Chamberlain, the Civil War comes alive. Shaara knows his history and he blends it well in his story. Not content to dwell on the battles and military actions, Shaara tries to explain each character's motivations and feelings. This story is the predecessor to the acclaimed "The Killer Angels" written by his father Michael Shaara in 1974. Looking through the eyes of each of the four major character is most gripping characteristic in Shaara's story. Everyone of the Characters is interesting in their own right. However, the points of view of Lee and Jackson are the focal points for most of the story. Perhaps it is because they were both Confederacy commanders (whereas the Hancock and Chamberlain are not as prominent) or because their personalities are so unique. For example, the cold and brusque "Stonewall" Jackson who was revered and loved by his men and could not reciprocate his feeling with the common soldier. Shaara goes into personal details about, Lee's unusual personal life with his crippled wife and estranged children, or Jackson's unrelenting duty to God.
The battles come to life in Shaara's account. Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Manassas and Williamsburg are battles that will live in history forever. Lee shamed and beat every Union commander, he out-fought and out-foxed them all. What Shaara paints is a picture of a smaller Confederacy army, ill equipped and out gunned, beating a larger, better equipped Union army. He credits Lee and Jackson with a large portion of rebel success and given the circumstances of the battles there probably is no reason to doubt Shaara. After reading the book I too felt that Lee was best general on the field. This story is also heartbreaking when you consider the cost of this war and the toll it took on the participants. American was never the same after this conflict and the people who fought this war were never same as well. I think Shaara capture's this concept.
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