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Summary: Robert E. Lee gets his big break
Review: In "Gone for Soldiers", author Jeff Shaara takes us back to the Mexican American war. During this time, we meet a younger Captain Robert E. Lee. I thought this book was great. Shaara continues to write in his fathers style, as he did in the Civil War books. Here, we follow General Winfield Scott and Lee. I recommend this book to anybody that is interested about this small war that we dont know a lot about.
Rating: 
Summary: An okay book, but not great....
Review: This book is okay, and enjoyable for readers of historical fiction, but the moments of humor or action do not completely redeem some tedious spots. The book focuses too much on Robert E. Lee, who isn't nearly as interesting a character as, say, Santa Anna or Grant. The book also ignores the battles for New Mexico and California to focus mostly on Scott's march, which should have a secure spot in history. Still, it is a good read, even if not up to his father's level. It is a pity the father was not more productive as a writer so we would not have needed the son.
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Summary: OK - Shaara's Done Better
Review: It thought "Gone For Soldiers" was OK, but I didn't like it nearly as much as "The Last Full Measure" or "Rise to Rebellion" (which, in my opinion, is Jeff Shaara's only work that rivals his father's "Killer Angels").
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Summary: Much Better than his Civil War Books
Review: In trying to take up his father's mantle and extend the Civil War
Novel _The Killer Angels_, Jeff Shaara fails. But once he breaks free of his father's legacy his prose becomes vivid and his characterizations stop being wooden. _Gone for Soldiers_ is probably his most impressive book. The portrait of Scott, a much more impressive soldier than most people realize, is refreshing and right on the money. This book is worth your coin. And there is the added benefit that you will get an introduction to the United States' first imperialist war.
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Summary: Another great piece of historical fiction
Review: As a self described Civil War buff, I truly enjoyed the three prior books by Jeff and his father, but this book surpassed Jeff's two previous efforts. Maybe it is product of having less knowledge about the Mexican-American War than that of the war fought just 12 years later, but Shaara shares great insight to the workings of the Civil War's great generals and gods. This style of writing (changing the view from main character to main character) has become very popular in recent works (Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire etc.)and it really engages the reader and adds depth to the story. If you enjoy historical fiction, what to learn more about the Civil War's great heroes, or what to learn more about the march to the "Halls of Montezuma," read this book. I am glad I did.
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Summary: IF YOU LIKE THE HISTORICAL NOVEL, YOU WILL LIKE THIS ONE
Review: This is a excellent piece of work and well worth the read. It goes down easy, is fast moving and just simply fun. In my mind's eye, I had not imagined quite the personality traits of some of the individuals portrayed in this book, but they hey, I did not know them personally either. The story covered a period of time I feel has been quite neglected in our class rooms, therefore should be new territory for "non-history types." If the book can stimulate further study in this area by interested individuals, then so much the better. Keep up the good work here Mr. Jeff and give us more of the same!
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Summary: Simple, easy to read style; lots of story.
Review: Not as good as The Killer Angels by his father, Michael Shaara (which won a Pulitzer Prize), but not a bad book. Written at a junior or senior high school level, it describes the southern campaign -- Major General Winfield Scott's advance from Vera Cruz to Mexico City -- through the eyes of several American officers and one Mexican (General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna). It's a livelier, more interesting read than Bauer's The Mexican War, but probably its best part was the thumbnail descriptions at the end of the book of what happened to the more famous participants after the war ended.
Reading this book led me to think about the significance to American history of the war with Mexico. Obviously, its most immediate significance was the amount of territory we gained as a result of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. As a result, the United States became a truly continental power. Arguably it showed two downsides of the American psyche as well. The war was a prime example of Manifest Destiny, and it intensified the debate over issues relating to slavery and led to the sectional crisis of 1861. However, from a strictly military perspective it also: · Demonstrated Major General Winfield Scott's military brilliance by (1) his strategic understanding that to win the war, the war must be taken to Mexico City; (2) his plan for doing that; (3) his various tactical victories during his Central Mexican Campaign; and (4) his advance on Mexico City wherein he cut himself off from his supply base at Vera Cruz. Thus, the war confirmed his place in history. (Cutting himself off from his supply lines drew a dire prediction from Arthur Wesley, the Duke of Wellington. His subsequent capture of Mexico City changed the Duke's mind and elicited great praise from the victor of Waterloo.)
· Gave US military officers, particularly those destined to be senior leaders in the Civil War, the learning experience of conducting large-scale military operations. The last such opportunity had been in the War of 1812. In the intervening years the US Army was scattered about the country in relatively small military posts, with no opportunity to conduct large-scale maneuvers.
· Confirmed the importance of the West Point Military Academy since most of its graduates participated in the war as company and (a few) lower field grade officers, and acquitted themselves quite well. (The senior military leadership such as Major General Winfield Scott and Brigadier General Zachary Taylor, were self-taught.) An irony of the War in Mexico was that General Scott's style of husbanding his soldiers' lives by waging a war of maneuver whenever possible rather than fight any all-out (and costly) head-on battles should have presaged similar military operations in the American Civil War. Unfortunately it didn't, and tens of thousands of American soldiers on both sides died because of it.
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Summary: BEFORE THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR...
Review: Before the likes of Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant fought under seperate flags in a fight for the future of the United States, they fought under the same flag in the name of Manifest Destiny in Mexico! GODS AND GENERALS takes the reader to a time thirteen years before the American Civil War, back when the men who would lead two seperate American armies in a fight to preserve the Union led men under the United States flag in an attempt to gain more land for America. Once again, Jeff Shaara gives us an enlightening look at war, cleverly taking us back to the Mexican War. He has made us care for these men like no one ever has! Santa Anna, whom I always pictured as a very evil person, has been presented as a man with ideas of his own, not evil ones, just different ones! And the myths about Robert E. Lee are finally being put aside, and Lee is now being presented in novels not just as an officer, but as a human being as well! Anyone who enjoyed THE CIVIL WAR TRILOGY (THE KILLER ANGELS, GODS AND GENERALS, and THE LAST FULL MEASURE) will enjoy this one! I guarantee it! Grade: A+
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Summary: A Must Read for History Buffs!
Review: I never knew much about the Mexican War until I read this book. Like most people, it was something briefly touched upon in high school before diving into the Civil War. This book brings the events to life and makes the reader want to find out more about the main participants. Shaara uses the same style he impliments in his previous books, focusing on Robert E. Lee, Winfield Scott, Santa Anna, and other military figures who will have a major impact on the Civil War twenty years later. It's a definate page turner, and one I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys historic fiction.
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Summary: Slow Start
Review: Having not read one of Shaara's books before, I was tempted to put it down after the introduction. In that section, the characters we are to meet in the body of the text are presented in a series of one-dimensional, criptic sentences reminiscent of a high school term paper. Fortunately, the players become more alive and the writing more flowing as the story proceeds. The period in U. S. history prior to the Civil War has always held interest for me and, having visited a number of the places in Mexico described in the book, I may find the subject matter more interesting than some. Although not a novel, I found Eisenhower's "So Far from God" a more readable and comprehensive presentation of the military and polictical aspects of the Mexican American War.
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