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Summary: Shaara Legacy Continues
Review: For those who have an interest in the American Civil War and in some of the more noted people who became involved in the conflict, will be able to see some of these people at the early stages when all fought on the same side. This "Prequil" to use the term is fitting for this book by Jeff Sharra. Gone For Soilders: A Novel of the Mexican War. Is a very insightful historical fiction. Though the story revolves more around Robert Lee, Jeff Sharra does introduce the reader to an early Sam Grant and James Longstreet. Like his father before him who's book Killer Angels brought to life again the battle of Gettysbugh as seen through the eyes of some of the people found in Gone For Soilders. The characters are well fleshed out and the story moves along well. It should help bring more people to read up on Pre-Civil War America and some of the men whos names are covered in this fine novel.
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Summary: Phenomenal to say the least!
Review: I read Gone For Soldiers AFTER reading the great Shaara Civil War trilogy, because I wanted to understand the early days of Lee, Grant, and others. I fell in love with the great General Winfield Scott (Old Fuss and Feathers) who was sort of the MacArthur of that day. The Mexican American War is not a part of history I knew much about. It was a fascinating time and battle. Best of all was the insight into the characters of the men we meet later on, in the Civil War. I actually recommend reading first the trilogy, Gods and Generals, The Killer Angels, and The Last Full Measure, before reading Gone For Soldiers...you'll appreciate it much more this way. Also I must comment that in this book Jeff Shaara has really developed into a fine writer who is no longer in his father's shadow.
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Summary: Vivid historical presentation, but slanted politically
Review: Provides a very readable picture of of Scott's Mexican War campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. Shaara is clearly contemptuous of the then prevailing notion of our nation's "manifest destiny," and does not give President Polk and Zachary Taylor anywhere near the consideration and credit they deserve. The book actually belittles Taylor's treck from Corpus Chrisy to Saltilo, and completely ignores Doniphan's move to Santa Fe and then southward through El Paso and across the desert to join up with Taylor. Operations in the California region are also not menioned.
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Summary: Solid Book, Decent Audio Book
Review: This is a review of the Abridged Audio CD, read by George Hearn. I very much enjoyed the book, and would give it a rating of 4 stars, however the abridgement and the narrator would rank 2 stars, giving this work an average of 3 stars. I very much enjoyed the subject matter, Shaara writes "Gone for Soldiers" as a prequel to the Civil War based on the Mexican American War. As usual, he does a great job of putting us behind the eyes of key players in the action. Much more than his other books, Robert E. Lee is clearly the featured protagonist (he comes close to this status in the other books). We watch as Lee gets his first real taste of battle, how he views the delicate political intricacies of General Winfield Scott's command and starts to understand how to translate his Westpoint and engineering background into tactics that are capable of winning the war. I just read "Personal Memoirs" by former President, Union General and participant in the Mexican American War Ulysses S. Grant, and Grant clearly expresses that the foundation of the Civil War was laid by this very war. Mr. Shaara's development of this thesis is very lively and as always he does a great job of telling the story from many vantage points. While the subject matter was outstanding, the abridgement and narration were a bit disappointing. I do not think that I could listen to Mr. Hearn read through an unabridged copy, nor would I want to listen to his reading of other books in the series. His voice is mostly fine, but his standard tone and the highly repetitious text became somewhat comical by the end of my listening. I think that this could well be the fault of the abridgement job (which could also explain Lee's prominence), as the story does not flow very well, and it seems that time and time again the author uses the same method of introduction and phrasing. It was just a little too much. I liked the context of this book, and the Audio CD was good, just not great. I recommend it, but would not recommend the unabridged text, or trying to listen to more than one of these readings in sequence.
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Summary: Do you like American History? Shaara is the best.
Review: I've read all the Shaara books and this one did not disappoint me (although his two-volume series about the American Revolution is my favorite). It is an excellent account of the Mexican War and includes a lot of information about Capt. Robert E. Lee's maturation as a combat officer under Gen. Winfield Scott, as well as brief looks into the early evolvement of Stonewall Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant. If you enjoy American History, this book, as well as Shaara's others, is a must for you.
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Summary: Another Good Book by Shaara
Review: Let's face it. The Mexican War is not the best known or well researched war ever fought by the U.S.. That why Jeff Shaara's book is so good. It gives you a concise history of that war, and, gives you an opportunity to see the figures that would dominate the Civil War in later years. Here we see Grant,Lee,Longstreet and others working together, to bring victory in a common cause. The story stands on it's own, but, can be viewed in relation to Michael and Jeff's Civil War books, which they will be well remembered. The story never drags and the detail is rich and I believe, authentic. It is one of the best ways to read history, if you are not one to get into history. After reading this I'm sure you will have a better grasp of a lesser known period of American History and it will be joy to read. Flaws in this book? None that I can see. You will do good to read this book. I know you will not go wrong.
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Summary: Vivid historical presentation, but slanted politically
Review: Provides a very readable picture of of Scott's Mexican War campaign from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. Shaara is clearly contemptuous of the then prevailing notion of our nation's "manifest destiny," and does not give President Polk and Zachary Taylor anywhere near the consideration and credit they deserve. The book actually belittles Taylor's treck from Corpus Chrisy to Saltilo, and completely ignores Doniphan's move to Santa Fe and then southward through El Paso and across the desert to join up with Taylor. Operations in the California region are also not menioned.
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Summary: Marvelous account of a forgotten war
Review: Author Jeffrey Shaara has picked up the gauntlet left by his father Michael Shaara. The elder Shaara made quite a name for himself with his fictional, but extremely plausible, account of the crucial Battle of Gettysburg in his seminal novel "The Killer Angels". It was fictional only from the standpoint that Michael Shaara assumed the existence of dialogue and minor events in order to personalize and humanize the various historical figures who played a key role in that battle. Much of those minor events and dialogue were derived from journals, historical records, and conjecture. The actual larger events are, in themselves, wholly factual. "Killer Angels" may be as credible an historical record as any 'pure' accounts.
Jeffrey Shaara has assumed his father's legacy by continuing this genre of historical fiction. The younger Shaara is probably best known for his novel "Gods and Generals" (recently made into a movie) which deals with the beginnings of the Civil War up until just before Gettysburg. "Gods and Generals" is an excellent novel and I highly recommend it to anyone. However, I would posit that one his lesser known novels, about a lesser known historical event, may be even better. "Gone for Soldiers" is Jeffrey Shaara's account of the largely forgotten Mexican-American War, which ran from 1846-1848. The reason "Gone for Soldiers" is such an excellent read lies not only in Shaara's skilled literary style, but in his ability to uncover the stories behind this war that are truly fascinating.
The Mexican-American War began over boundary disputes between the Mexican government and the newer southwestern states of the United States, most notably Texas (Which had fought Mexico only 12 years earlier to get its own independence). In an attempt to quell the uprising by the Mexican government, the U.S. Government and President James K. Polk made the egregious error of bringing General Santa Anna back from exile (imposed after he surrendered following the war with Texas) with the belief that he would quell the uprising and re-establish friendly relations with the U.S. Of course, Santa Anna immediately assumed control of the Mexican government and army and promptly attacked the U.S. forces. The war then became a quest to get Santa Anna out of power and restore stability to the region.
The war was fought on two fronts, but Shaara largely ignores General Zachary Taylor's stagnant offensive to the north, choosing instead to focus on the more aggressive and successful amphibious landing by General Winfield Scott's troops to the southeast. This choice is important because, not only did Scott's offensive play a much larger role in the U.S.' success in the war, but it also introduces the reader to much younger versions of men (under Scott's command) who play crucial roles in our nation's history less than two decades later. Familiar names like Pickett, Grant, Johnston, Jackson, and Lee first cut their teeth in combat during this conflict. Later, they play significant roles in our nation's most tragic conflict, the Civil War. Shaara does an excellent job of revealing the passions, fears, skills, and courage of each individual man, choosing primarily to focus on the young Robert E. Lee. In following Lee's progress and development from Army engineer to respected combat commander, Shaara enables to see deeper into a man who we only know as the legend he became. In addition, it is through Lee that we also get to know General Winfield Scott, a general whose war record should put him on the same plateau as such war heroes as U.S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, Teddy Roosevelt, John Pershing, Dwight Eisenhower, and Douglas MacArthur. It's a shame that history has seen fit to forget this man. Shaara does a credible job of reminding us that Scott was a truly remarkable leader.
Anyone with a love of history would do well to pick up this novel. "Gone for Soldiers" is a remarkable accomplishment that belongs right alongside "Killer Angels" and "Gods and Generals".
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Summary: Fine Historical Novel, But not Shaara's best
Review: Gone for Soldiers serves as either a standalone novel about the Mexican War or as a distant prequal to Shaara's earlier novel Gods & Generals. It tells the story of a war that divided the country before the Civil War and Shaara tells the story well, but there is little of the emotional impact that carried through his previous novels. Perhaps some of the characters were simply getting a little old, but there was something just a little stale about Gone for Soldiers. I enjoyed it but this book is clearly not as well written as any of Shaara's other work. Gone for Soldiers follows the stories of General Winfield Scott and Captain Robert E. Lee as they journey to the dry heat of Mexico. Along the way we meet many familiar faces: Picket, Longstreet, Johnston, Grant and Jackson. I do think Shaara spends too much time with Lee, rather than focussing on a character a bit more dynamic. Lee was a courageous officer but at all times he was a gentleman which kind of deadens his impact in a dynamic story. Gone for Soldiers is a fine novel of the Mexican War, but it is simply not as good as Shaara's Civil War or American Revolution novels.
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Summary: The war we do not know
Review: This book would be excellent if the Mexican War was as historically important as the Revolutionary War or the Civil War. Similar to many readers, I had very little knowledge of this war and I think Shaara does a good job presenting a story, accurate or not, that takes the reader back to the war and to the men who made a difference in it. We can clearly see from this book that the Mexican War served as a "breeding ground" for superior officers who would show their superb leadership skills years later in the Civil War. I did enjoy this novel but because I had no background knowledge of this time period, I couldn't fully enjoy it. Jeff Shaara, along with his father, share a passion for history and a passion for recreating it. Perhaps this book will not be as good as the others but it is to be commended for its intent. And that is to be a good story.
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