The Killer Angels

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Books I've Ever Read
Review: If you have recently read "Cold Mountain" because its been a popular pick by the book clubs or in anticipation of the upcoming movie release, you will likely hear about "The Killer Angels". I had heard from a number of people that Cold Mountain was the best book of the Civil War genre since Killer Angels and one of the reviews in the book jacket for Cold Mountain comments similarly. I'm not a Civil War fan or a history buff and yet I was very much moved by what I read. If you don't like history or the Civil War as a subject, do not let it put you off from reading this book. Shaara brings the story to life so well and with such facility that you become engrossed in the novel. He almost supercedes the subject itself. Its a shame he hasn't written more 'historical novels'. His ability to put you into the perspective and the minds of the Generals and Officers involved in the conflict is second to none. Sir Walter Scott was the originator of the historical novel genre, but I haven't read anyone as good as Shaara. I can understand now why it won a Pulitzer and I would certainly expect that 100 or 200 years from people will view Shaara's work with the same reverence they view the classic novels now. Every once in a while you read a book that simply moves you as a person, that changes your perspective and your understanding of the world around you. This is one of those books.

Rating:
Summary: The Killer Angels
Review: The Killer Angels tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. On July 1, 1863, the Confederate army and the Union army fought the largest battle of the American Civil War. When the battle ended, 51,000 men were dead, wounded, or missing. The characters in the novel are based on real historical figures. Most of the main characters include, General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army, General James Longstreet, Lee's second-in-command; and Union Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain, who participated in one of the most famous battle of Gettysburg, the fighting on Little Round Top. Little Round Top was one of the four hills that the Union troops used as a defense against the Confederate troops. When Chamberlain was placed to defend Little Round top, he made a couragous decision, that turned out to be the turning point of the battle.
If you like war type strategy book, then this novel will be perfect for you. Readers will be captivated by the intense actions involved between two rival armies, the Confederates and the Unions. Maps are also included to help readers follow where the battles are fought. If you get a chance to read The Killer Angels, I'll be you'll be taught a history lesson on what happened on July 1-3, 1863.

Rating:
Summary: The Killer Angels
Review: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara narrates the battle of Gettysburg in the form of an exciting suspenseful novel. This war novel views the Civil War not from the perspective of a textbook, but from the eyes of the men who fought in it.
Robert E. Lee is an aging general commanding the entire Confederate Army; James Longstreet, Lee's dependable right hand man, disagrees with Lee on many different strategies. Lou, Armistead, a Confederate general, is best friends with Union general, and must face him at Gettysburg. Joshua Chamberlain is a young college professor who left his job to command the Twentieth Maine Regiment and join the union army. John Buford is a Union Cavalry general whose men are the first to reach Gettysburg; he must hold the town at all costs.
In 1863, the Confederate Army invades the North. The Union Army rushes to attack them and accidentally meets them at Gettysburg. Over three long hot summer days, they fight a battle.
The conflict pits friend against friend and countryman against countryman. The author describes this brutal battle with breathtaking realism. However, more importantly, Shaara successfully explains the soldiers' motives and reasons for fighting. In my opinion, this book's insight on why the war was being fought is it's greatest strength.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting Account of Fascinating Events
Review: The Civil War always fascinates and as time goes on seems less real in the fuller context of American History. The 150th anniversary of the war did not get much attention from mainstream media outlets that I can recall (of course, my powers of recollection are not what they used to be) but this book has provided a unique perspective that such sources would not likely have been able to provide anyway.

After re-reading The Killer Angels following my recent reading of Gods & Generals, I came to appreciate Michael Shaara's work all the more. While G&G is excellent, Killer Angels is the superior work. In allowing one to empathize with its characters, setting out the complexities of the historical context and relating the emotion of the players, Killer Angels may be one of the most effective historical novels ever written.

Rating:
Summary: More than names and numbers
Review: I am a Cadet Candidate at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School. For far too long, the Battle of Gettysburg remained nothing to me but names and numbers in a history book. After reading The Killer Angels, I gained a whole new perspective on the events of that battle. Names now have faces, actions have background, and I understand thelong and tedious process each decision had. The characters have voices, from which I can learn lessons from the past. As a student of military strategy and leadership, as well as a veteran, I view this book as a true exhibition of duty, honor, and patriotism.

Rating:
Summary: An American Masterpiece
Review: I have read this book over 15 times and it is still extrodinary. It is by far the greatest civil war novel ever written. You follow the characters of Longstreet, Lee, Chamberlain, Hancock, ect. in a thrilling story of courage. I am a huge civil war buff and I love this book. If you know the story or if you don't know the story, you will come away from this novel with a new sence of respect for these men that no one else but Michael Shaara could do. Mr.Shaara has past but his story of the bloodiest battle in American history will always be cherished as a American masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: A Novel of Gettysburg
Review: This is an outstanding work of historical fiction. The book deserves the praise it has received. There is much more to this novel than can be captured in any movie or TV series on the Civil War. The book is a fitting introduction to the Civil War and to the Battle of Gettysburg. The book illustrates a lesson too easily forgotten --how fiction, well done, has the power to give meaning to fact.

The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1 -- July 3, 1863. It remains, probably, the pivotal battle of the Civil War and has been written about endlessly.

Michael Scharaa's novel is in four large chapters, one for each day of the battle together with an introductory chapter setting the stage. The story is told in sections devoted alternately to the perspectives and roles of many of the leading protagonists: the Confederate Generals, Lee, Longstreet, and Armistead, the British writer Freemantle, a guest in the Confederate camp, and the Union Generals Chamberlain and Buford.

There are many excellent historical studies of the Battle of Gettysburg (Steven Sears and Noah Trudeau have written two recent ones) and it is worth thinking about how these studies differ from the picture of Gettysburg we see in "The Killer Angels".

The novel gives a vivid picture of each of the three days of the battle, but it is more selective, focused picture than we get in the histories. The novel concentrates on the events on Little Round Top -- the far left of the Union line on the second day of the battle, July 2. The hero is Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his men from the twentieth Maine who hold of a furious Confederate charge over the boulders of Little Round Top and help save the Union position.

The novel also concentrates on Pickett's doomed charge on the third day of the Battle. We see a great deal about General Armistead (in Pickett's Division) who dies after reaching the Union lines and remained a devoted friend of Union General Hancock over the wall.

The novel form (fiction) allows the writer to concentrate on specific scenes, as Sharaa does well in "The Killer Angels", to a degree the historian cannot. The novel also allows the writer to explore the relationships among and the thoughts of the protagonists to a degree that goes beyond the historical record. Sharra exploits this possiblity to the utmost. He gives the reader interchanges between Lee and Longstreet, for example, that are entirely plausible, that make them come alive, and that cast great light upon their activities and motivations during the Battle. We see a great deal of Colonel Chamberlain, of course. The reader hears Sharra recreating Chamberlain's innermost thoughts and is encouraged to think about the making of a hero.

The novelistic form also allows Sharaa to use characters to express their views of the meaning of the War. The reader is given an unforgettable picture of what both sides thought they were fighting for and is invited to think about the War and the Battle for him or herself.

This novel will not replace historical studies for those interested in learning more about the Civil War or about the details of the Battle of Gettysburg. But it is a thoroughly admirable novel which captures something of the harshness and the heroism of the War and of the American character. It will give the careful reader a good understanding, or a good way to work through to an understanding, of the events of these three days in 1863. "The Killer Angels" will encourage the reader to think about, and to deepen his or her appreciation of, our country's history.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest Civil War novel that will ever be written!
Review: "The Killer Angels" is probably the greatest Civil War novel that will ever be written. Rarely does a novel so thoroughly capture the story, people, and struggles surrounding a great event. Shaara's characterizations of Joshua Chamberlain, James Longstreet, and other key figures of the Battle of Gettysburg are unforgettable. Shaara's novel splendidly tells the story of two great armies, both motivated and fighting for what each believes is a great and just cause, as they come together to fight the biggest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. Shaara's telling of that portion of the battle which occurred on Little Round Top fully impresses upon the reader that this was one of the pivotal moments of history where quite possibly the Union Army and perhaps the entire Union cause turned on the heroism of a few men and the clear thinking of one man. This is a great story.

This is a great novel of leadership, hardship, and history. It does not demonize the Confederate side, but instead, without being pro-Southern, respectfully informs the reader that the key ingredient that made the Confederate Army one of the great armies of all time was the fact that to a man the Confederates truly believed in the justice of their cause; that they were fighting for their homes and hearths, or as they put it, "for our rahts..." For all this, the novel does not ignore the contradictions in the Confederate cause. The Union cause is similarly respectfully presented, and Joshua Chamberlain's speech to the 2d Maine mutineers (no spoiler here) is a great summary of the Union cause.

This novel utterly succeeds at both entertaining the reader, which is after all the first task of any novel, as well as telling a great story from history. The reader will come away from the novel with much greater insight as to how the Battle of Gettysburg was truly the pivotal battle of the American Civil War. Shaara fully faults General Robert E. Lee's failure to learn the lessons of the earlier Confederate victory at Fredricksburg as the reason for the outcome of the Gettysburg battle, and his analysis is pursuasive and fascinating.

This novel was an instant classic when it was published and it will always, in my opinion, be THE classic novel of the Battle of Gettysburg. It is quite simply unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking..
Review: The following is a review of the HighBridge Audio edition of Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" as downloaded from Audible.com, an Amazon.com partner.

I can say nothing about the text of the book here that has not been already said in the some 350 reviews here. Therefore, I will incorporate all that has been said heretofore with all credit due those whom have said it and will, instead, restrict my comments to the quality of HighBridge Audio edition.

This is a superbly mastered project. The foreword and afterword are read by Ronald F. Maxwell the director of "Gettysburg" (and "Gods and Generals) and the author of the "Gettysburg" screenplay. Maxwell does good work and there is some nice orchestral music that closes with the end of the reading of each chapter but the real treasure is the work performed by the narrator, George Hearn.

Hearn gives it all. He provides ample characterization for each of the characters that come and go but, more importantly, he eloquently captures the emotions and renders them flawlessly for the reader. It was quite a pleasure to read with Hearn who appeared to be genuinely immersed in his material. This edition is wholeheartedly recommended without reservation as an exemplar of a recorded book done well.

Rating:
Summary: Captivation from start to finish...
Review: The Killer Angels is one of the best Civil War novels I have read. More often than not, if a book doesn't get my attention after the first chapter, it doesn't get my attention at all. The author succeeded in keeping me engaged and interested throughout the entire book. Michael Shaara does an amazing job going back and forth between Union and Rebel troop Commanders in each chapter, giving you a two sided approach to the story. One aspect that I found particularly intriguing was the issue of religion and the part it played in both Union and Rebel troops and their superiors. Both sides were convinced that God was on their side; most soldiers belived it till the bitter end. Micheal Shaara is father of better known author Jeffery Shaara who wrote the Civil War novel Gods and Generals; however, I believe that The Killer Angels is a good place to start.