Gods and Generals

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, passionate, moving
Review: A perfect companion piece to his father's work, "The Killer Angels". If you keep in mind that it is fiction, it makes history "come alive" for the reader and make him/her feel a part of the story - not just an observer. You become attached to the characters. I look forward to reading his new work, "Last Full Measure".

Rating:
Summary: Gods and Generals continues the tradition of Shaara Magic
Review: Gods and Generals is a fantastic addition to the world of Civil War fiction. Shaara's style, while different from his father's, is powerful in character development as well description of battle scenes. He allows the reader to develop a relationship with the major players of America's worst war. A very powerful book that should be read by anyone that read Killer Angels.

Rating:
Summary: History lessons turned into flesh and blood.
Review: Friends who had served with each other for years were suddenly only a cannon shot away from each other. The writing is so intense that you can almost hear the screams and musket fire. At the same time, it is clear that many of the generals on both sides were close friends prior to the conflict. When Major Armistad resigned his Federal commission to return to Virginia, he stopped by Capt. Hancock's home to say good-bye and enjoy home made cookies. Both would later be generals facing each other across the carnage of battle.

The contrasts were stunning. While men died on both sides by the thousands, Gen. Stuart maintained a thespian demeanor in his conduct. While General Jackson held a compelling religious belief in God, he felt it was his duty to kill as many of the enemy as necessary to protect Virginia. For a man so beloved by his men, he maintained a humble attitude toward his earthly existence so as not to offend his God. Even at his death, he held no blame for the men who had shot him by mistake. His words and thoughts were for his esposita.

This book was well written. My vision of the Civil War has forever been changed. My next trip to the Washington DC area will allow me to visit the battlegrounds made so vivid in this work. Well done, Mr. Shaara.

PS...you can't read this novel without reading "The Killer Angels."

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth reading!
Review: Though Jeff Shaara doesn't exactly have his father's style, he presents the subjects of Gods and Generals in the same way Michael Shaara did in The Killer Angels. He made me care about these people and feel that I knew them. I hurt when they hurt...I laughed when they laughed....I cried when they cried. Even though "Stonewall" Jackson's death is a matter of history, I cried when he died. Jeff Shaara comes very close to the magic of his father's writing. I am really looking forward to reading The Last Full Measure.

Rating:
Summary: Good Reading: They should do the movie.
Review: This book is written in a style that makes it easy to read and identify with the (real) characters behind the story. Because I liked the movie - Gettsyburg - which was done from 'Killer Angels' which I also enjoyed after seeing the movie (several times), I would really like to see someone do the movie for Gods and Generals especially if it was done as a prequel of Gettysburg. The book makes me want to find out more about the Civil War and the people who lived through it.

Rating:
Summary: This book is plodding and soporific.
Review: Jeff Shaara slavishly attempted to copy his father's style. He managed to copy the form and not the substance. The prose is lifeless. Jeff needed an editor who would get him to write simple sentences in the active rather than the passive voice. He also needed an editor who would check Jeff's dates. A glaring mistake like Chapter 4 entitled "Lee, November" describes Lee's encounter with John Brown when Brown had been tried and convicted of murder and treason by October 31st. This book would neither be published nor noticed if Jeff had not been Michael Shaara's son. If Jeff has talent, it was not exhibited in Gods and Generals.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent place to begin early battles of Civil War.
Review: As a former Marine Corps rifle company and platoon leader during the Korean War, I won my commission and learned the basics of infantry warfare in much of the same area where these early battles were fought. I was too young and focused on my intended war to care about the Civil War at the time - a lapse I now regret. I had never been a student of the Civil War, mainly because TV pictures about it showing the insanity of assaulting fortified positions across open fields in parade formation turned me completely off. This book has now caught my attention and led me to order several others where I hope to learn more about these times and tactics. I think it should provide an nteresting place of beginning for the novice. The many illustrations of the early battle fields are easy for a layman to follow without having the background in military map reading (topog & symbols) often found in professional history books and periodicals (Marine Corps' Gazette,etc.)

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: Jeff Sharra has done a very good job in tackling a dfficult subject or subjects. Considering the fact that this is Mr. Sharra's first book the reader should allow for some gaps and occiasional plodding. But overall the book reads well and the 'people' of the times come alive especially Robert E.Lee and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain...

Rating:
Summary: Jeff sure is not his dad!!!!
Review: I waited with baited breath for this book to come out and when it did I was so disappointed I wanted to scream. My question harkens back to the 80's Wendy's commercial- "Where's the Beef?" Of Gods and Generals read more like my 8th grade text book than the work that this one is to prequal. The charachter development is not there-I was actually hoping Chamberlain would catch one in the head so I could stop listening to his whining. I was most disappointed with the treatment of Jackson in this pot boiler. Yes, Jackson was a fanatic but Shaara missed the boat in the way the men looked at him and how he preceived himself. Where is the scholarship in this novel. If you are going to write Historical Fiction at least include some History. For Pete's sake at least plagerize some Foote or somebody who knows a little about the Civil War. I will begrudgingly read The Last Full Measure. Jeff I am putting you on notice, do better research or go back to Florida and sell coins.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT BATTLES; GREAT BOOK
Review: Shaara brilliantly illustrated the art of war and the importance of skilled commanders. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Civil War.