Rating: 
Summary: When brother kills brother, which side are the angels on?
Review: Having just returned from Gettysburg, I decided this would be a good time to read this too long postponed historical novel. Rather than tell a traditional "narrative" of battle, Killer Angels looks at events through the wholly subjective (and incredibly blind) eyes of five participants (contrary to another reviewer, Grant was not involved, and plays no part in this novel).Despite the extreme limitations of knowledge of each of the characters--which characterizes even current military battles, despite increased technology, the reader gets a very good sense of the over all ebb and flow of what happened, why generals made the decisions they did, and how much of war depnds on luck and the unanticipated consequences of decisions made for entirely different reasons. The prime example, which forms the ceterpiece of the book, is Chamberlain's defense of the Union flank at Little Round Top. Having the vastly superior position, but the uneviable job of being the far right of the Union lines, Chambelin finds his troops at dusk without enough bullets to fight off another Confederate charge. Nonetheless, he has orders not to retreat, no mattter what, because if he does, then the Confederates will be able to gain the high gtround from the rear, and the Union position will become untenable. When the Confederates charge, out of complete desperation, Chamberlain orders a bayonette charge. This appears completely suicidal (and Chamberlain probably thought that he was ordering his troops to certain death). Bayonettes in the face of bullets do not have a good track record. However, when the Confederate troops saw the charging Union soldiers, they panicked and retreated. Thus the day was saved, the battle won, and many would say, the course fo the war changed forever. Yet, the decision was made not out of bravery of tactics, but out of desperation. As good as the battle descriptions are, even more powerful are the scenes in which generals on both sides wrestle with the fact that they are issuing orders which will result in thousands of men killing thousands of their fellow citizens, and in many cases, the generals facing each other were good friends before the war. Shaara's strength is making this impossible tragedy make sense, from both sides. Shaara closes his book with a quote from Winston Churchill about how the Civil War was the bloodiest, yet least preventible wars in history. Once the tragic commitment to slavery had been made, Civil War was sure to follow. The result was a massive purging of the great American dilemna through the blood of brothers. "Where were the angels?", is a question every reader should ask.
Rating: 
Summary: Less can be more
Review: When I picked up "The Killer Angels", I realized that Shaara would have to fill in the historical blanks with invented dialogue and fill out the characters with imagined musings. However, after a while I found myself growing weary of the incessant "he said," and "he thought", and gradually began skipping over the soft bits to the actual planning and execution of the battle. If you're looking for a readable, if not overly engrossing fictional/historical take on the battle of Gettysburg, this is probably it, but it left me in the mood for something more objective and factual.
Rating:
Summary: 10 stars...one of the all-time greats!
Review: The Killer Angels launched me on a rampage of reading Civil War novels. It is simply one of the finest books I've ever read, and I've read thousands of books. Michael Shaara made the characters come alive and transported me back in time...I was really THERE. His unique use of inner dialog was very effective. He often used incomplete sentences to depict their thoughts. Ingenious. The battle scenes made my heart speed up, and the attention to detail was phenomenal. The story was told from multiple perspectives and moved back and forth from North to South. This was executed flawlessly to the point that I couldn't stand for either side to lose...proof to me that the author accomplished his writing goal. What more can I say without gushing?
Rating:
Summary: Surprised!
Review: I was assigned this book for summer reading for my english class. I saw it was about the civil war and I put it off because I figured I'd have to drag myself through the book. Boy was I wrong. I couldn't put this book down and finished it in 3 days. The success is due to Shaara's excellent skill. He takes the unique approach of telling the story from the view points of me on both sides. This could have been horribly executed if he wrote in a way to vilify one side or another, to make the reader root for the naturally "good". Shaara goes the authentic route (and does it quite well) by making all of the men real and is able to bring out the personalities in just the writing styles.
GREAT BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: God would not want the perpetual union to be dissolved
Review: Michael Shaara has a wonderful style of writing combining a tremendous amount of feeling, imagery, and context in each sentence. Shaara provides a sequence of maps, events, and timelines leading to Gettysburg final conflict at Cemetry Ridge. Northern industrial taxation on manufactured goods situated a constitutional division of sovereignty destroying a united union leading to a bloody war. Jeff Shaara book, "God and Generals" provides an amazing story of faith and exploitation of vulnerablity in the right flank of the union leading to a massive retreat by Hookers men and a 10,000 men charge by rebel Longstreet. Lee realized the opportunity could not be passed and it was not accidental that God had led them to such a valley. "Gods and Generals" would highlight the victory for General Jackson who was shot in the arm, had his arm amputated, and later died of pneumonia. In "Killer Angels", Michael Shaara, the father author, continues the story. The battle to know God's will would be settle on the battle field by the killer angels who are the fighting soldiers. Union General Hancock would signal the first turning point by defeating the confederates at Devils Hill by leading a bannotte charge down the hill and causing the rebels to turn and run. The saddest tradegy foresaw the inevitable defeat of the confederate army as General Lee ignored all alternates to a direct assault. Lee believed a charge of 15,000 confederate men focused at a single point on cemetry ridge, Gettsburg could break the union formation and once split pour over into Washington. Longstreet knew that Lee had decided and there was no turning back, no time left, no alternatives to the right flank, nothing. Longstreet and four other Generals would walk the mile distance to the stone wall with Armistad reaching the wall to later die with the knowledge his friend Hancock might also die. Longstreet would realize it would not be God who sent the men up the hill. The carnage of men lying dieing in the field, bloated horse with terrible sink, exploded trees, deep trenches, and the irony of such beautiful country characterized the writings but in no way diminished the terrible tradegy of brother killing brother in a war that last over 10 years. A deeply painful lesson to realize God would not want the perpetual union to be dissolved.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for the Military Officer
Review: Not only it is a very readable account of one of America's most important battles, but it is a great example of Command and Battle Staff.
I really enjoyed how Mr. Shaara introduces the key players in the beginning of the book. This gives a base reference that shows the background and tries to explain the reason of how each player acted.
Then, once you get into it, it is definitely a hard-to-put-down book. The description of the skirmishes, the meetings and the landscape are all amusing, entertaining and instructive. I am still in awe of the bravery and gallantry of the men on both sides of the war.
I decided to read the book after I saw it on a general officer's recommended reading list. After reading it, I think I understand why he recommended it to the company grade officer. The book gives a wonderful depiction of how a group of officers in the different levels of command can make key decisions and the importance of the mission of individual staff officers.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: I couln't put this book down you could feel the pain the joy and allemotions in between of all these charachters. I'm a southerner but I not only felt love for Lee but Michael Shaara showed me love for people like Chamberlin I love this book and would recomend it not only to those interested in the Civil War but those interested in great literature
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've ever read
Review: Many civil war books are for civil war fans only( which i am). This book is an excellent read for everyone. Shaara gives these historical names character and entertains the reader. The action is wonderful, and scenes such as Little Round Top and Pickett's charge are unlike any I've ever read. From the first page to the last I couldn't put this book down, and I recommend this book not only to civil war fans, but anyone who can read.
Rating: 
Summary: Zero if I could
Review: We had to read this book in English class, and it is INCREDIBLY boring, and hard to even read one page. I do NOT recommend this book. Please, save yourself the time.
Rating:
Summary: Not A One-Sided HIstory
Review: This book was very exciting and educational. It gives you the feelings, thoughts, and actions from both sides of the rifle. It makes you feel like you are there witnessing history as it develops. It has a great style of writing which is expressed by the author, Michael Shaara. It's not just country versus country but a lot of times brother versus brother which made the Civil War a scar to remember. It gives you the area in a map with markers to show where the two armies were to give you a better understanding from their point of view.
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