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Summary: Was it just one more battle in the history of the world??
Review: NO!! It defined the beggining of a tottaly new era! My discovery of this piece of american history, started with my interest for films about battles, go figure, from films about II World War to films about Vietnam, so naturaly the movie "Gettysburg" caught my attention. After seeing it everything changed, and my search for more material started, until i discovered that it had been based on a book by a fellow named Michael Shaara. To my suprise discovered one of the best books i have ever read (and i have read plenty). Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain, A.P. Hill, Stuart, Hancock, Armistead, Buford, among others, where brought to live before me eyes, not by the pictures of the movie, but more profoundly by the words of the author. This book taught me much about the spirit that bindes the american people, and that turned that nation into the "leader" of our world society. This book contains the most vivid combat descriptions, superb characterizations, fully capturing the divided lives, the heroism and the madness of this fratricidal war. NOW, STOP READING THIS AND GO IMMERSE YOURSELF IN A WONDERFULL, HISTORICAL "TALE" OF MEN AND THEIR BELIEVES.
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Summary: Desperate REBEL grasp for victory
Review: Blunder after blunder, didn't grab the high ground, insisting on "Napoleonic War" style frontal assaults. This book gives you the huge risks that Lee was forced to take because the REBELS were already losing the war of attrition. Shaara could knit quite a yarn and with Longstreet, Chaimberlain, Lee, & Hancock, as just some of the characters psyche's he has you delving into you won't put it down till crossing THE END.
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Summary: An unparalleled example of Civil War fiction
Review: When considering Civil War fiction 'The Killer Angels' by Michael Shaara is unparalleled. It is perhaps the finest example of the genre that I have read and acts as marker by which to measure all other Civil War fiction. The novel is skilfully crafted, it is simple in its storytelling yet at the same time intricate in its detail. Involving some 170,000 soldiers of the US Army of the Potomac under Major General George Meade and the CS Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee, 'The Killer Angels' depicts the battle for Gettysbury and covers the days of June 29th to July 3rd 1863. After spectacular victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville the Confederate Army had invaded the North not only to ease the burden of war on a ravaged Virginia but also to strike such a destructive and decisive blow to the Federal Army that the Lincoln Government would be forced to consider a peace treaty. The armies converged on Gettysburg a small town of some 2,400 inhabitants in Pennsylvania, leading to a battle with 51,000 casualties that changed the direction of not only the war but also American history itself. This is not just an account of a battle, 'The Killer Angels' presents the reader with the internal thoughts of those who played a role in the events of the battle. It gives us the feelings and emotions of Lee and Longstreet, Buford and Chamberlain and a whole list of others whose combined actions and thoughts create such a rich and enthralling novel. Some suggest that such fictionalised internal dialogue takes away from a true historical account. Albeit based on fact, this is a novel not an attempt at historical accounting and it must be treated as such. However, Michael Shaara writes with such conviction that the reader will view the words with nothing short of total belief. The battle of Gettysburg was a failure for Lee, yet in the aftermath much of the blame was placed with Lieutenant General James Longstreet. Within the pages of 'The Killer Angels' Longstreet is justifiably treated with such objectivity that the book provided the beginning of a period of rehabilitation for Longstreet culminating in the dedication of a statue to him on the battle field on July 3rd 1998. If you are only going to read one civil War novel, make it this one. True, it is a piece of Civil War fiction but it is so well written and masterfully crafted that even those who feel that a novel about a three day battle has no interest for them, will on its conclusion cite 'The Killer Angels' among their favourites.
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Summary: Vividly realistic, beautifully written.
Review: Reading "The Killer Angels" is meeting the soldiers of Gettysburg, getting to know them, relate to them. The style in which the book is written is excellent, seeing the events through different characters' viewpoints, practically follwing them around the battlefield. Shaara, though of course agreeing with the North over slavery, nevertheless does not present the same tired old cliche of good guys, bad guys. (Another reviewer on this site compared that attitude to that of a Mel Gibson movie and I agree completely.) Characters in the book such as Lee, Longstreet, Chamberlain are so realistically portrayed, you almost believe Shaara knew them personally, for by the end of the book, you feel like YOU do. The battle descriptions are exciting and shocking, the passages dealing with the thoughts of the characters are moving and beautiful. A lot can be said for this book not only in terms of its content but of the language which is used to present it. Michael Shaara's sentences are like poetry, rolling and descriptive, or short and striking; always the words chosen instantly convey the feel of the situation. It's a detailed and intense book, and I won't pretend it didn't take me a long time to read (especially in the summer holiday season), but by the end I still wanted more, and I feel this book will cause me to be forever interested in the American Civil War. In the battles, in the ideas, and of course in the human participants.
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Summary: Michael Shaara sets the standard for historical novels
Review: This is absolutely the best novel I have ever read! It should certainly be the historical novel benchmark by which others are judged.
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Summary: The best war novel ever written
Review: "The Killer Angels" was the best war book I've ever read. Shaara made you think into the war; showing both sides and the arguements of the North and South. He made you rethink everything you've heard about Gettysburg- how Longstreet was a real hero, and how college professors can become one of the greatest soldiers ever in history. His knowledge of this battle is astounding. He knew the thoughts and feelings of the generals. He looked into their souls and found that under every general is a man. This book changed my life and my view of war.
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Summary: Excellent
Review: The number of positive reviews of this book speaks volumes - I love historical fiction and this is right up there. I so much enjoyed getting glimpses into the minds of the men behind the battles; their quirks, memories, and different ideas of what they were fighting for. And it didn't matter that I knew the outcome of the battles - I was just as fascinated by the decisions and at times almost forgot the history anyway! That, to me, speaks volumes for the writing. This is definitely an engrossing book, and I believe that even if you were not prone to reading Civil War/historical fiction type books, you would still enjoy this one.
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Summary: A great book about the civil war and about people
Review: I first read this book about 14 years ago. It was then and still remains one of my favorite novels of all time. The reasons are quite simple. Michael Shaara does an amazing job of painting intricate portaits of men whose names we recognize and those we don't. He doesn't cast favor on Northerners versus Southerners or question who was right or wrong. In today's media/entertainment saturated society, books and movies often point their audience to a conclusion of right or wrong, good or bad. This novel shows soldiers as men, bringing in interesting details of what are not necessarily clear-cut decisions. This book does not lower itself to force the reader to any conclusions. In fact, it humanized both sides for me and helped me to understand what brings a person to fight in a war. If you're looking for a Mel Gibson-type movie in a book, where you can cheer the death of an army, then this is not the book for you. If you would like a supremely well-written, insightful and thoughtful novel set during the Civil War period, then you will read this book over and over again.
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Summary: Best Historical Fiction Novel I Ever Read!
Review: I echo the words of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, on the front cover of the book, "The best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read." Shaara did his homework before writing the epic novel about the Battle of Gettysburg. The book is as historicaly accurate as fiction can get. The magic of the book is how Shaara brings the characters of the American Civil War to life. He puts you inside of their minds an shares their thoughts and emotions. Of course, we will never truely know how these men truely felt during these four days in 1863, but I think Shaara must be as close to total accuracy as humanly possible. It is as if Shaara was actually there at the battle writing down every detail. The four hour movie "Gettysburg" is also based on this work. The movie closely follows the novel, but, as usual, the novel is always better then the movie.
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Summary: I didn't have a clue...
Review: I had to read this book for school AP Hist. and I thought it would be really lame since it was for school. IT turned out to be the best book I've read in the longest time. Just when the action seemed to be boring or dying down, something new and exciting occurs in the story. I loved this book until the very last page, and I feel I've learned a lot.
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