It is so memorable as we see the events unfold through a series of perspectives from major actors: Lee, Chamberlain, Buford, Longstreet. Yet Shaara still manages to deliver marvelous battle scenes, especially a memorable accounting of Pickett’s failed assault on the Union center. The Killer Angels was the title of the 2013 album by Swedish heavy metal artists Civil War, which included the song "Gettysburg", a song about the Battle of Gettysburg. All Americans should read this, especially in this time when the Confederacy and the causes of the War are misunderstood and misconstrued.

I was a bit too weighted down to give this historical novel the completely objective read I felt it deserved. The novel is set out in chapters from alternating viewpoints, and it works, but it takes time to get into the stride. Recounting the period of June 30-July 3, 1863 (the day before and the 3 days of the Battle of Gettysburg), Shaara’s narrative filters the events surrounding the battle through the subjective lens of the leaders of the two armies.

He was taller than Lee, head like a boulder, full-bearded, long-haired, always a bit sloppy, gloomy, shocked his staff by going into battle once wearing carpet slippers. Through these soldiers and many others, Shaara emphasizes the motivations, decisions and actions of these men and how each of their unique and very human perspectives along with the ever present “fog of war” resulted in the final outcome at Gettysburg. I was truly saddened by the incredible loss of life due to the mistakes of the priveleged few, the generals. Shaara focuses too much on the high command of the two armies and gives too little attention to the soldiers in the ranks. He brings Buford and Chamberlain and the others to life by embodying them, by inhabiting their minds.

Add to this, the fact that these were real men, with real failings, fighting real friends and the book almost seems to narrate itself. There is Lee, suddenly very old, suffering from heart disease, struggling with the loss of Jackson, unable to control his subordinates or get them to see his vision. I couldn't wait to find out whether both Chamberlain brothers survived or whether Lee would ever admit his tactics were wrong. The Killer Angels” is a book for people interested in historical fiction, and especially the Civil War. It is a fictional account of the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, putting words into the mouths of some of the best-remembered participants, most notably Confederate Generals Robert E.By focusing so rigidly on a handful of participants, you get a great sense of intimacy, at a loss of some of the scope. This volume assembles three Civil War novels from America’s first family of military fiction: Gods and Generals, The Killer Angels, and The Last Full Measure. Many had served together previously in the United States army—and for a not inconsiderable period of time—which meant that you had colleagues, and in some cases good friends, whose job it was to go out and try to kill each other in the name of the geography into which they happened to have been born, putting aside their own personal feelings about the reasons for the war. The Firefly science fiction television series was developed by Joss Whedon after reading The Killer Angels. The adaptation was subsequently produced at Anchorage Community Theatre, the Wayside Theatre in Virginia, the Heritage Theatre in Maryland, Mother Road Theatre in New Mexico, and Michigan Shakespeare Festival.

His son, Jeff Shaara, has continued on the course his father charted, telling the stories behind the other great battles of the civil war, as well as going back in history further to create historical novels about the American Revolution and the Mexican-American war.

They had signed on to fight with the Second only, they said, but their commanders had other ideas, sending them under guard back to the fight. Goodbye To All That' was Graves fascinating autobiography, much of it devoted to his life-shaping experiences during WWI. Today there is a Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction, established by Jeffrey Shaara, awarded yearly at Gettysburg College.