Gods and Generals

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Summary: Gods and Generals and SO much more!
Review: Recently, I had finished "Gods and Generals" by Jeff Shaara. Before I had even started reading this book, I had high expectations. Many of my friends had read Michael Shaara's "Rise to Rebellion" and were just raving about it. I was hoping that his son, Jeff Shaara's novel would be just as good. Historic novels are not particularly the subject that I would choose to read, but "Gods and Generals" was far from a regular textbook of facts and timelines. The way that Jeff Shaara made the story of the civil bar battles into more of a story of life kept me intersted. Although this was true, sometimes the jumping between characters in the different chapters confused me. Since I was studying the same material at the time that I was reading "Gods and Generals", I could understand points ini history better and found that all the information and facts that Shaara included were completely accurate. I greatly enjoyed reading this novel. I thought that it not only was very entertaining, but helped in the classroom as well. Whether you have to read this for history, or just for fun, it is definetly worth it.

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Summary: School Book Review
Review: Jeff Shaara had only one thing that motivated him to write a book: his father. Michael Shaara was an award-winning author who wrote historical novels about events in American history. One of his more famous novels, The Killer Angels, was during the Civil war at the Battle of Gettysburg, and was to have more books written about the war. Michael Shaara passed away before he could do so. His son, Jeff Shaara, took on the challenge, starting iwth teh beginning of the Civil war, in his book entitled, Gods and Generals.
This historical book gives the thoughts, ideas, feelings, experiences and recollections of distinguished generals in the war. It begins prior to the war, where tensions run high between the North and the South. You meet each of the future generals and get into their personal lives. You learn about how sick Lee's wife was and how upset Chamberlain's wife was when he left for war. You follow these characters all the way to the beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg before you need to pick up The Killer Angels, the sequel to Gods and Generals. Whoever said history is boring, was wrong!
Gods and Generals was phenomenal! The book was so detailed and well thought out.Descriptions of a battle could last for chapters. Shaara put so much thought and detail into this book that you can't help but call it fabulous. I recommend this book to anyone but more so to people over the age of 13. How mch you like this book will all depend on how much you like history. Gods and Generals had not only been made into a movie, but has also won the ALA award for best military novel.
This book recreates the horrors of war in such a way, that you will be mesmerized. This emotional and powerful piece will move you so much, upon finishing you will instantly pick up the sequel! "Generals, after all, are like Gods. Many men die under their command. They will help shape the fate of this war..."

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Summary: Phenomenal!
Review: Gods and Generals is fantastic! I am in love with this book. I am in love with Generals Lee, Jackson, and Hancock. Jeff Shaara made every character a real, human person that the reader comes to know. He made all the events and battles realistic and you feel like you are there with the men, watching from above.

Shaara's writing style is engaging and enveloping; from the very beginning it just sweeps you along. This book even made me cry.

I highly recommend Gods and Generals. I even like it better than The Killer Angels, which is also a wonderful novel. They work really well together.

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Summary: Nikhil's Review
Review: I read Gods and Generals for my US History class and found the experience very unique. Although the book did not particularly appeal to me, Civil War buffs would thoroughly enjoy it. The historical content is very accurate and paints a realistic picture of the Civil War and its ramifications. Shaara's style of viewing the war through the viewpoints of many historical figures including Lee, Hancock, Jackson, and Chamberlain vary the novel's overall viewpoint towards the war. I found this aspect very valuable, as it took the story beyond the facts found in a textbook and allowed me to experience the war through the actions and thoughts of key players in the war. By telling his story through the viewpoints of those on the Union side as well as the Confederate side Shaara was able to let readers pass their own judgment on the war. The detailed descriptions of the battles and descriptive insight into people's thoughts were excellent. These detailed accounts of every part of the war allowed me truly understand the horror of the Civil War. Overall, this book is a great read for anyone with a passion for history, but a bit of a drag for people who are not interested by the Civil War.

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Summary: J.S's tale that takes you inside some famous Civil War minds
Review: I believe that Jeff Shaara's book Gods and Generals is a masterful look inside the heads of some of the Civil War's most famous generals. It gives the reader a deep sense of friendship with these men as you read each page. With every turn you feel closer and closer to these men as you follow them through what became history. Jeff Shaara has taken a new approach at trying to explain what went on in the Civil War through both Northern and Southern eyes. I believe this fresh approach gives life to the the part of the Civil War genre that has become simple fact-listing. That is why I believe this book is an excellent choice for interested readers Civil War type books.

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Summary: Loved it.
Review: I loved this book. I'm only thirteen, and even i got into this book. it's full of blood and emotion, and i would have given it five stars, but for the fact that one of my favorite charecters died. Reading historical fiction is the only way i can learn about history, so i've read quite a few, and i absoultly loved this one. Terribly sad book, but also exciting. read it.

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Summary: An Extraordinary Novel, Shaara Strikes Gold!
Review: Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara is the prequal to the Pulitxer Prize winning novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Gods and Generals follows the lives of 4 men in the turbulent days leading up to the Civil War until just before the Battle of Gettysburg. Thomas Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Winfield Scott Hancock and JOshua Chamberlain are the 4 main characters and in the mix we see glimpses of some of the best known soldiers and civilians of the Civil War Era, including JOhn Brown, JEB Stuart, McClellan, Burnside, Longstreet and Hooker. Shaara's talent for writing is obvious in the first lines of this work. He is able to capture both the triumph and tragedy of the Civil War. When it comes of the battles, his accuracy is almost complete. Shaara does his research and provides the reader with the thrilling idea of being inside a historical figures mind. The only complaint I can make is that he does not delve into the insanity that strayed just beneath the surface with Jackson, instead promoting Jackson's obvious if misguided religious beliefs. Although Gods and Generals was made into a subpar movie, it is a first rate story with compelling character and explosive drama. Well done Shaara.

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Summary: disappointment
Review: poorly written. nowhere near the writer michael was. sorry, but i did not like this book. best bet would be to re-read Killer Angels.

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Summary: Above average
Review: I was going to try and not draw comparison's with "The Killer Angels," but the fact of the matter is that Gods and Generals isn't as great as it's touted to be.

The usual excuse given is that it covers too large a time frame and too many battles, whereas his father's work with Killer Angels was focused on Gettsyburg and that week or so around it. Valid point. However, the writing of G&G is par at best. It has nothing to do with the time frame or amount of battles. I think he spends a little too much time in the prelude to war and then when it actually gets to the "good part" (the battles) it seems rushed. Antietam is hardly mentioned. The fight in the cornfield could have been the high point of the book just as the battle for round top was a high point in Killer Angels.

Simply put, G&G doesn't have that one poignant chapter that you can hang your hat on. I suppose the death of Jackson and assault on Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg give the best shot at this. However, as I mentioned, the writing is par, maybe above par at best. I've read better descriptions of the emotions, pain, confusion and horror by many non fiction authors (Foote and Catton to name just a couple).

That being said. If you are totally un-informed about the civil war and your knowledge of it is basically what you learned in high school, then you may find the book a little more fascinating. Basically because you don't have the knowledge to fill in the blanks and can make these leaps of time and place to keep up with the author. But once you've studied the real drama of Antietam, Manassas, 2nd Manassas, even the 7 days, it's tough to swallow.

And for the record, I read G&G before Killer Angels. So it's not like I was looking back with a tainted eye. In fact, after hearing all the great remarks of G&G, I was a little disappointed. It almost prevented me from reading Killer Angels. However, the reputation of KA, the fact that it won the Pulitzer, and many more highly tauted remarks drew me back in. If you don't believe me and haven't read KA, try reading the first 10 pages and you'll see what I mean about the difference in writing quality.

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Summary: A balanced and insightful novel of the early Civil War.
Review: This is a superb novel of the early Civil War. Jeff Shaara uses the same format that his father used in the great novel "The Killer Angels" (the story of the Battle of Gettysburg) to tell the story of the early Civil War days. Shaara's novel shows us the war as seen through the eyes of Winfield S. Hancock, Joshua Chamberlain, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The format works. This is a tremendously entertaining novel and fabulously educational to boot. I truly felt after reading the novel that I understood what it was like in those early frenetic days, as the country and the US Army split, with people choosing sides, North and South, for the coming conflict. What an incredible and sad time that must have been!

The novel is less pro-Southern than the movie "Gods and Generals" and unlike the movie, the novel does not drag, and the storyline moves along briskly, holding the reader's interest at all times. I felt that Shaara presented a balanced view of the two sides. The South was motivated by a love of, and loyalty to, home and hearth much more that it was motivated by slavery, although I personally believe that slavery was beyond any doubt the root cause of the war. (This does not mean that slavery is what motivated the people of the South to fight.) The North, of course, was fighting to preserve the American union as one indivisible nation as Northerners believed that the Founding Fathers intended for it to be. These were great and stirring causes, which Shaara brings out beautifully, and it took a great war to resolve their inconsistencies. This book goes far in explaining and telling how it must have been to be a soldier or politician in that pivotal time.

"Gods and Generals" is a worthy prequel to the bestselling "The Killer Angels" and any Civil War buff will want to read it several times. This is a deep and detailed book and in my opinion to fully appreciate it most readers will probably read it more than once. I did, and it was time well spent.