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The Killer Angels

(The Civil War Trilogy #2)

Michael Shaara

4.31 · Rating details · 77,127 ratings · 4,894 reviews

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life. Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and cr ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 345 pages

Published August 12th 1987 by Ballantine Books (first published 1974)

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May 18, 2014 Jeffrey Keeten rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-civil-war

”This is a different kind of army. If you look at history you’ll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we’re here for something new. I don’t … this hasn’t happened much in the history of the world. We’re an army going out to set other men free.”

Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

photo battle-of-gettysburg-map-on-july-3-1863_zps2bcf9496.png

The position of all the troops on July 3rd, 1863. The last day of battle. You can see the famous fishho ...more

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Feb 21, 2018 Matt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-novels, historical-fiction, american-civil-war

“Once Chamberlain had a speech memorized from Shakespeare and gave it proudly, the old man listening but not looking, and Chamberlain remembered it still. ‘What a piece of work is man…in action how like an angel!’ And the old man, grinning, had scratched his head and then said stiffly, ‘Well, boy, if he’s an angel, he’s a murderin’ angel.’”
- Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels

When it was first published, Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels landed with a thud. Even when it won the Pulitzer Prize for ...more

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Apr 14, 2010 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, audiobook, history-usa, military-fiction, 1970-1979

Michael Shaara's passion gave life to something unique and singularly extraordinary in this Pullitzer Prize winning novel. With high-charged, emotive prose, lush descriptions and fully-fleshed characters, he transforms the The Battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest engagement of the Civil War, into a gorgeously rendered and deeply personal story populated by flawed, ordinary men caught in an extraordinary concatenation of circumstances by the machinations of Fate. Shaara’s reduction of this mom ...more

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Mar 24, 2009 Kemper rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, military, war, usa-usa

This month marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg which we all know is the fight that took place when Abraham Lincoln wanted to make a speech at that address and then one of the neighbors got mad and challenged him. Or something like that.

Ah, but seriously folks…. Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War in which the Union forces defeated Robert E. Lee’s invading Confederate troops, but this isn’t a non-fiction book about the battle. Instead it’s a historical This month marked the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg which we all know is the fight that took place when Abraham Lincoln wanted to make a speech at that address and then one of the neighbors got mad and challenged him. Or something like that.

Ah, but seriously folks…. Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War in which the Union forces defeated Robert E. Lee’s invading Confederate troops, but this isn’t a non-fiction book about the battle. Instead it’s a historical fiction in which author Michael Shaara used research and literary license to put us into the minds of several key figures so that readers experience the fight through their eyes.

For this re-read, I listened to the audible version, and it featured an interesting introduction from Shaara’s son, Jeff. (Who has followed his late father’s formula to write several other books about American history.) The younger Shaara tells of how his father’s book was rejected over a dozen times, was a commercial flop but won a Pulitzer Prize only to see no increase in its profile following the award. Michael died in 1988 thinking that the book would not be remembered. In an twist of fate, the movie adaptation Gettysburg that came out five years later would put the book on the best seller list almost twenty years after it was originally published.

On the Confederate side, an ailing and weary Robert E. Lee has pinned his hopes to end the war on the idea of attacking and destroying the Union army on it’s own ground, but his top general, James Longstreet, was against the invasion since he believes the South’s military success has come from a defensive style of warfare. As they advance into Pennsylvania, they’ve been left with a dangerous lack of information about Union movements because cavalry officer J.E.B. Stuart has been failing to provide them with reports from his scouting mission.

Both sides begin to converge on the small town of Gettysburg which has a valuable crossroads nearby, but Union cavalry officer John Buford is there first and immediately realizes that the hills and slopes outside of the town will give a huge advantage to the army that holds them. With the Confederate forces closing in fast, Buford occupies and tries to hold the good ground while urging the Union army to rush in and reinforce him. As troops pour into the area from both sides, they find themselves fighting in a battle no one had counted on. The Union troops manage to occupy the better positions as Longstreet desperately tries to convince Lee that attacking would be a major mistake, but Lee believes that his army can destroy the Union forces once and for all.

This book and the subsequent film version would do a lot to make people reevaluate Longstreet’s reputation. He’d been scapegoated by other Confederate officers after the war for the defeat at Gettysburg, but Shaara’s version of events based on letters and diaries of those involved makes a convincing argument that it was Lee whose stubborn refusal to disengage and pick a better spot for a fight was the main culprit for the Confederate failure.

Shaara also credits the forgotten Buford with being a major reason as to why the Union was able to seize the high ground. He also tells the story of another officer forgotten by mainstream American history as one of the true heroes of the battle. Joshua Chamberlain was a professor at Maine’s Bowdoin College when the war broke out, but he showed a knack for military command that eventually put him in charge of a regiment at the end of the Union line on a hill called Little Round Top. As the extreme left position of the Union forces, Chamberlain and his men had to hold back repeated efforts to flank them by Longstreet’s troops, and then they found themselves in the thick of the fighting again on the last day during Pickett’s Charge.

Chamberlain would win the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg, and he would continue to serve with distinction for the rest of the war. Eventually promoted to the rank of brigadier general, Ulysses Grant chose Chamberlain to command the Union troops at the surrender ceremony. After the war, he would win multiple terms as Maine’s governor as well as eventually becoming president of his old college. (Feeling like a slacker yet?) The book and a great performance by Jeff Daniels in the movie version would make Chamberlain remembered once again.

The prose gets a bit flowery at times, but Shaara’s preface notes that he actually toned down the verbose style of the time. There’s also a bit too much repetition on a couple of points like Chamberlain’s horror at himself that he ordered his brother to fill a gap in the line during the fight on Little Round Top without a second thought or Confederate General Armistead’s constant references to his friend Win Hancock as he frets that he’ll have to face his buddy on the battle field.

Those are minor gripes about a book that found a new and fresh way to tell a story that every American school kid has heard. Shaara also does a nice job of pointing out the inherent hypocrisy of the Confederates who claim to be fighting for their rights while not mentioning that what they want is the freedom to keep owning slaves. That point gets overlooked a lot when the South gets romanticized in mainstream works of fiction, and it’s refreshing that Shaara called bullshit on it.

Random trivia: Joss Whedon’s television show Firefly was partially inspired by his reading of this book.

Also posted at Shelf Inflicted. ...more

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Mar 12, 2018 Sean Gibson rated it really liked it

Visceral. That’s the best word I can use to describe The Killer Angels, both in the sense of instinctive or elemental emotions and in the sense of internal organs and guts. Because both are relevant when you’re talking about a book that captures what I imagine the experience of war to be like in a way that very few other books I’ve ever read has.

The big caveat there, of course, is the “I imagine” part—I’ve never been a soldier, have never fired anything other than a BB gun (though, in my callous Visceral. That’s the best word I can use to describe The Killer Angels, both in the sense of instinctive or elemental emotions and in the sense of internal organs and guts. Because both are relevant when you’re talking about a book that captures what I imagine the experience of war to be like in a way that very few other books I’ve ever read has.

The big caveat there, of course, is the “I imagine” part—I’ve never been a soldier, have never fired anything other than a BB gun (though, in my callous youth, I did bring to a premature conclusion the life of more than one recalcitrant soda can), and have absolutely no idea what it’s like to kill another human (or have another human try to kill me); Jebus willing, I never will. So, it’s possible that war is nothing like this.

But, Shaara’s lean but descriptive prose and shifting POVs offer a perspective that feels so authentic that I found myself occasionally forgetting that this is a novel rather than a stitching together of first-hand narratives; one suspects Mr. Shaara did his homework. There’s a reason this book is a classic of its genre, and it’s simultaneously an enlightening and painful read.

The American Civil War is, if not unique in the history of warfare, certainly a particularly unusual conflict, especially when you consider the officers leading the troops on both sides of the fight. 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. (Side note: I have a few colleagues I’d be totally fine pointing the business end of my bayonet at, but it’s unlikely that I would actually be able to eviscerate them if it came to that, though I’d happily pour salt in their coffee.)

Shaara is not concerned with trying to explain the reasons for the Civil War, nor in making a case for whether those reasons were good ones or not; his goal is to capture the experience of the fight. He does so masterfully; I felt completely immersed in the (very troubling) experience of preparing to fight, from the oddly relaxed downtime between battles to the gut-liquidating moments before the charge.

This is one of those books that will sit with me for a while, and one that reminds me that even when justified—and I have a much higher threshold for justification than most rulers/countries over the course of human history—war is an awful, horrific, terrible thing that indelibly transforms the lives of all those involved, whether directly engaged in the battle, the family members of those combatants, or the civilians whose homes and towns are destroyed in the process.

I think I may need a little Dr. Seuss as a palate cleanser before jumping into anything else this heavy…

(Thanks to Allie for the buddy read!) ...more

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Feb 25, 2012 C. Janelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

I am not really a fan of books about war. I have trouble envisioning the action and the maneuvers of the troops, and I find that I get lost in the details and just don't really care about the characters.

Because of this, I didn't have high hopes for The Killer Angels, but it was this month's selection for my book club, and I decided to give it a try.

This book was incredible. I did have some trouble keeping track of the characters. I ended up making myself a cheat-sheet with things like, "Longstre I am not really a fan of books about war. I have trouble envisioning the action and the maneuvers of the troops, and I find that I get lost in the details and just don't really care about the characters.

Because of this, I didn't have high hopes for The Killer Angels, but it was this month's selection for my book club, and I decided to give it a try.

This book was incredible. I did have some trouble keeping track of the characters. I ended up making myself a cheat-sheet with things like, "Longstreet - Confederate general. Lee's second-in-command. Nickname: Pete." Actually, Longstreet I could keep track of. It was Pettigrew and Pender and Sykes and Sedgewick that kept tripping me up. The maps were very helpful as I tried to visualize the action, but they were less helpful when I couldn't remember which names were Union and which were Confederate.

This is a novel, so it's a fictionalized account of the Battle of Gettysburg, but Shaara clearly did his research. Written from the shifting perspective of the main players in the battle and drawn from the personal correspondence of these men as well as the historic record and Shaara's own embellishments and best guesses, this book explains the nuances of the battle and of the war more clearly than I've read before. I've been taught the Civil War from the perspective that there was a clear side to root for. I've known for a long while that the reality was murkier than this, but Shaara helped make this murkiness more apparent to me (or perhaps I'm just now of an age where I can embrace murkiness better than I could in high school and college). There is a distinction here between the Cause and the people doing the fighting. I don't think that's a distinction I've often seen.

Shaara puts the reader in Gettysburg, not only in the location but in the minds of the people who were there. All of the things people say about the Civil War---the idea of brothers fighting against brothers, the internal conflict and sense of near heresy of killing one's own countrymen, the ambivalence of Northerners to the people the slaves were even as they disagreed with the institution of slavery---Shaara illustrates clearly here.

The book is peppered with lyrical, powerful passages, but two stand out for me as particularly moving.

One is a speech Chamberlain gives to a group of would-be deserters handed over as prisoners to his brigade to try and convince a few of them to fight rather than just ride out the battle as prisoners.

"This is a different kind of army," Chamberlain explains. "If you look at history you'll see men fight for pay, or women, or some other kind of loot. They fight for land, or because a king makes them, or just because they like killing. But we're here for something new. I don't...this hasn't happened in the history of the world. We're an army going out to set other men free."

The other passage that really struck me was when Longstreet and Hood were saying goodbye to one another before a fight. Longstreet puts out his hand for Hood to shake.

"Hood took the hand, held it for a moment. Sometimes you touched a man like this and it was the last time, and the next time you saw him he was cold and white and bloodless, and the warmth was gone forever."

I just found the way Shaara uses language to be powerful, poignant, but not overdone at all. He has a light touch which lets the scenes shine through. The writing was easy to read, the story rather less so.

I think I can blame this book at least in part for the gloomy mood I've been in the past few days. It's an incredible book about an infamously dark battle in our country's darkest war. ...more

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Apr 17, 2013 ΕιζΝιnΕ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites-artbooks-and-comics, favorites-lit-historical-fiction, ficgenre-western-clssc-and-rlstc, ficgenre-war-and-espionage, ficgenre-historical-fiction

Perhaps the Greatest War Novel Ever Written
(Too much? American war novel, then.)

'The Killer Angels' stands tall as the best novel about the American Civil War ever written... and there have been many. E. L. Doctorow's 'The March', for example, about the military convoy and its swelling ranks of thieves, whores, and freed slaves following General Tecumseh Sherman's trail of destruction, is a great book, but it doesn't manage to convey the scope and complexity of battle with the grace Shaara does. ...more

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Jul 13, 2020 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-civil-war, pulitzer-winning-fiction, pulitzer-fiction, american-20th-c, historical-fiction

I am fairly sure that I read this book like 25 years ago as well. It is so memorable as we see the events unfold through a series of perspectives from major actors: Lee, Chamberlain, Buford, Longstreet...It is a masterful evocation of this crucial battle in which the Civil War was more or less decided (even if it played out over the following two years). Very moving and realistic, it is probably the next best thing to going to Gettysburg in person - a voyage I definitely need to make after the c ...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Richard rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is one of those books which changes the way people see a subject. 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. Lee and James Longstreet, and Union Generals Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and John Buford (actually Chamberlain was a colonel at this battle, but eventually attained the rank of Major General before the end of the war). The book violates This is one of those books which changes the way people see a subject. 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. Lee and James Longstreet, and Union Generals Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and John Buford (actually Chamberlain was a colonel at this battle, but eventually attained the rank of Major General before the end of the war). The book violates a common perception of historical writing which says readers of war novels are more interested in the common soldiers' experiences rather than the generals who live in the lofty atmosphere of rear headquarters, moving armies around like chess pieces. Michael Shaara's book works by letting the reader into the private world of soldiers who are as torn by the emotions of decision-making in the pandemonium of battle and fear of the unknown as those in all war novels, only in this book they mostly happen to be the soldiers who are commanding all of the other soldiers in an engagement that has taken on a mythology which places it in the forefront of our nation's struggles and enshrines the very ground it was fought on as sacred as any piece of real estate in the United States.

The author was writing science fiction and straight fiction short stories for many major publications for years, supplementing his income teaching English Lit. at Florida State University, before he published his first novel, "The Broken Place" in 1968. It was a very good book but not commercially successful. His second novel developed from a family visit to the Gettysburg Battlefield. From my own experience, I can relate to those who see that place for the first time, and, if they have a sense of historical perspective toward the war which defined this nation, or are at least receptive to learning about the country's great struggle, they can feel a sense of awe just standing on that ground (and no doubt feel just as moved at other places that defined the national conscience). This emotion definitely was felt by Shaara, who described his first visit to Gettysburg as an extraordinary experience.

Shaara's desire to put his feelings on paper led to his decision to write a novel with a story told through the eyes of the leading characters. Burning the candle at both ends, teaching and writing, and in his own recollection consuming large quantities of cigarettes and coffee, he finished the novel seven years later. His health was already poor, having suffered a major heart attack at age 36, in 1965. He finally found a publisher, and the book found a small audience after its release. Winning the Pulitzer in 1975 helped, but the novel's primary audience continued to be history buffs and professional military scholars; it has been required reading at leading academies, including the U.S. Army War College and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, among others. The edition I read was loaned to me by a retired Army officer who had studied at the War College.

The author passed away from a fatal heart attack in May, 1988, still semi-famous. He had written another novel, "For the Name of the Game", eventually released as a movie in 1999 starring Kevin Costner. "The Killer Angels" finally had its day in 1993, with the release of the film "Gettysburg." The interest in this Ted Turner-backed film generated sales in the book, which went to Number One on the New York Times bestseller list.

"The Killer Angels" has been followed by two related novels from the author's son, Jeffrey Sharra. "Gods and Generals" is a prequel to the events of the Civil War, while "The Last Full Measure" begins where "The Killer Angels" leaves off. The action in both novels occurs through the experiences of the same characters used by Michael Shaara in "The Killer Angels."

Though a novel, this book is a favorite among Civil War readers, on a level with the best non-fictional works. One reason is its underlying faithfulness to historically accurate character portrayals, and accountings of the major turning points in the Gettysburg battle. It is no exaggeration to claim that the experience of immersing oneself into this book will give any curious reader inspiration to want to know more about the Civil War. For those who think the reading of history must always be boring, this book will dissuade those notions. Civil War writing just doesn't get any better.

...more

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Mar 05, 2017 Ron rated it it was amazing

I was reminded about this book while listening to a podcast the other day. The guy mentioned The Killer Angels and I immediately thought about how much I had liked it and about my stepdad. He was the reason I read it, some twenty+ years ago now, this book that I am sure I would never have picked up on my own. He handed it to me one day said something like, “This was really good. You should read it.” I remember thinking at least two things in that moment: A book about war? I don’t read that stuff ...more

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Sep 12, 2019 Dan Lutts rated it really liked it

The Killer Angels describes the turning point of the Civil War, the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, through the eyes of key participants in the battle. Some of the more well-known ones include Robert E. Lee; Josiah Chamberlain, who was lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine regiment; cavalry commander John Buford; and Confederate General James Longstreet. To me, the book wasn’t “action packed” but meandering and full of detail.

Most Americans and all Civil War buffs know about the Battle of Getty The Killer Angels describes the turning point of the Civil War, the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, through the eyes of key participants in the battle. Some of the more well-known ones include Robert E. Lee; Josiah Chamberlain, who was lieutenant colonel of the 20th Maine regiment; cavalry commander John Buford; and Confederate General James Longstreet. To me, the book wasn’t “action packed” but meandering and full of detail.

Most Americans and all Civil War buffs know about the Battle of Gettysburg. How on July 1, Confederate General A.P Hill disobeyed Lee’s order to not engage the enemy until all the Confederate forces could assemble. Instead, thinking John Buford’s cavalry was local militia, Hill attacked Buford’s men, who held strong positions on the high ground leading into Gettysburg. The delay allowed the Union army to reach Gettysburg. How on July 2, the Confederates attacked the Union’s left and right flanks. The most famous battle was the Confederate attack on Little Round Top and Josiah Chamberlain’s heroic charge downhill against them, sending the Confederates flying and saving the Union position. How on July 3, Lee ordered General George Pickett to lead a charge on the Union’s right center. The ill-fated charge marked the high-water mark of the Confederacy.

Even though The Killer Angels is fiction, some people consider the incidents in the book as fact. This point was brought home strongly to my wife, Lisa, and me when we visited Gettysburg this summer and were given a tour of the battlefield by an incredible guide. He took us to the position Chamberlain occupied on Little Round Top. He said it was the most visited site on the battlefield because of the novel and movie. He also mentioned that when Chamberlain led his charge downhill, the Confederates were already retreating. That wasn’t mentioned in the novel. He also told us that one visitor kept asking to see Sergeant Kilrain’s grave. The guide responded that Kilrain didn’t have a grave because he was a fictional character and never existed in real life. That didn’t make any difference to the visitor. He kept asking to see Kilrain’s grave.

Jeb Stuart did let Lee down by not showing up at Gettysburg until the third day because he was riding around the east flank of the Union army with his three best brigades. So he missed the first two days of the battle. In the book, when Stuart reports to Lee, Lee gives him a long harangue about how the cavalry is the eyes of the army. In real life, Lee simply looked at Stuart and said, “General Stuart, where have you been?” Lee’s moral authority was so great that the simple question brought Stuart to tears.

Pulitzer Prize winning The Killer Angels is a wonderful novel about the Battle of Gettysburg by a good writer. But readers should be careful not to confuse fiction with fact. ...more

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Nov 17, 2014 Julie rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club, pennsylvania, pulitzer-prize-for-fiction-winner

If I hadn't been sitting in a puddle of my own tears from so much personal tragedy, I'd probably have given this five stars instead of four. Another time, I could have simply focused on the excellent writing and superior character development. I was a bit too weighted down to give this historical novel the completely objective read I felt it deserved.

I never knew that being inside of Robert E. Lee's head would make me feel so sad, so damn sad. I never knew I could alternate sides so quickly in m ...more

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Jul 22, 2014 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3classics, 2sortof_nonfiction, historical, war, 3series, 1audio

I was assigned this many years ago in high school & still have my 1975 paperback edition, so I was surprised by Jeff Shaara's introduction talking about how unknown this book was, especially when it won a Pulitzer Prize. I would guess he knows what he's talking about, but I've known many people to read it over the years. Of course, I lived only a couple of hours from Gettysburg which languished for years. Only recently has a real concerted effort been made to upgrade the facilities there led in ...more

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Oct 21, 2014 Darwin8u rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014, aere-perennius

“There's nothing so much like a god on earth as a General on a battlefield.”
― Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels

description

One of my favorite historical fiction novels of ALL TIME. I read this with my 13 year-old son and 12 year-old daughter and it was amazing. My kids loved it just as much as I did. It was tight, character-driven, and dramatic. Imagine my surprise when my kids are discussing the virtues of Team Chamberlain (smart, honorable, thoughtful, a natural leader) VS Team Longstreet (Brilliant, ah ...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Ted rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lit-american, fiction-of-wartimes, historical-fiction, beach-mixed, multiple-reads, classics, americana, history-civil-war

I've read the book twice, it is a very moving historical novel.

The Killer Angels relates the thoughts and motivations of the leaders in the battle of Gettysburg, as well as details of the crucial actions across the battlefield over three days, as experienced by the leaders and soldiers. Of particular interest are the depictions of the Confederate leaders (Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, et al). Longstreet is presented as arguing against the decision by Lee to take the battle to the Union forces, who h I've read the book twice, it is a very moving historical novel.

The Killer Angels relates the thoughts and motivations of the leaders in the battle of Gettysburg, as well as details of the crucial actions across the battlefield over three days, as experienced by the leaders and soldiers. Of particular interest are the depictions of the Confederate leaders (Lee, Longstreet, Pickett, et al). Longstreet is presented as arguing against the decision by Lee to take the battle to the Union forces, who had the defensive advantage of the high terrain in the battle. In Longstreet's view, Lee is assuming the role in the battle which he always strove previously to force the Union into taking, that of attacking a good defensive position.

Lee appears to realize at some level that Longstreet is right, but judges that there is a good chance of success, and that success here can turn the war decisively in the South's favor. Shaara's narration of the battle's details make it clear that during the first two days many parts of the action could have gone either way, that it was a very close thing. But Pickett's charge on the third day, although it seemed to get very close to succeeding, in reality had little chance of success.

I can see that some readers could feel that there is just too much psychological speculation in the book. Certainly the thoughts presented are speculative, as they are in any historical fiction. The words could be less so, if they are at times based on written recollections.

But the overall feeling is of such intense realism that it is easy to forget that the book is, after all, a novel, not a work of historical scholarship, though Shaara no doubt engaged in much historical research in writing the work. For example, his portrayal of Longstreet as a reluctant participant in Lee's overall strategy at Gettysburg is almost certainly accurate, since Longstreet was viewed for decades after the war by Southerners as almost a traitor, particularly by the "Lost Cause" partisans, due to this very well-known reluctance at Gettysburg. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lo..., http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lo... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cau...)

To this reader, the novel brings the battle to life in a way that no other book I have read on Gettysburg has done. ...more

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Feb 15, 2011 A.B. Gayle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shelf-23

Normally when I hear a book won a major literary prize I run screaming in the opposite direction, but the topic has always interested me and the way the author dealt with the subject had me turning the pages like a novel.

Being an Aussie, the American Civil war was just something I was taught at school, it had no real relevance. Undoubtedly, US citizens have a totally different perspective from their much closer connection. So I understand if for some of you the book is overload of stuff you've b Normally when I hear a book won a major literary prize I run screaming in the opposite direction, but the topic has always interested me and the way the author dealt with the subject had me turning the pages like a novel.

Being an Aussie, the American Civil war was just something I was taught at school, it had no real relevance. Undoubtedly, US citizens have a totally different perspective from their much closer connection. So I understand if for some of you the book is overload of stuff you've been exposed to all your life.

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is not a new book, in fact it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction back in 1975. It's based on the Battle of Gettysburg and looks at the action through the eyes of the significant characters of the different stages of the short but bloody battle.

In presenting history like this, the reader is very dependant on trusting the author to have done his research and is not cheating by switching a character's motivations or aims to fit the "story". In fact at times, I was imagining how Steven Spielberg would have filmed this. Would he have "killed off" certain characters just to make the drama more poignant?

It did read more like a novel. I couldn't wait to find out whether both Chamberlain brothers survived or whether Lee would ever admit his tactics were wrong.

If we can make the assumption that the author just "gives us the facts Ma'am", then after reading "Killer Angels" you definitely get a better insight not only into why one side lost and one side won, or why so many men were killed in senseless attacks, but it also tells you something about the stubbornness, courage and faith men can demonstrate.

To me the whole scenario in which the battle was fought seemed more like two macho guys arm wrestling in a pub to see who would take the pretty girl home. But maybe that's the whole point. The battle was senseless in some ways.

This wasn't for control of a strategic position or to capture a town and its produce, this was a war of attrition to see who could continue to field more men into the fight as carnage whittled away the numbers. Almost as if there was an underlying vote involved, but in this case, the winner was the one who could put the most bodies on the line.

The characters of the men involved shine through and in an epilogue we find out what happened to them afterwards. Having got to know them from the excellent way Michael Shaara got inside their heads to explain why they acted the way they did, we can extrapolate out how the rest of their life would have gone from the few facts included.

If more history was told like this, we'd all be clamoring to learn it at school.
...more

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Sep 02, 2014 Ben Loory rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

easily one of the best books i've ever read in my life. just completely floored me. i don't give a shit about history, war, america, the military... i don't care about any of this stuff. like, at all. but this book was amazing. i just cried the whole way through. for every single character. even the ones who lived. especially the ones who lived.

this was like a Bleak House, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page type situation. i forget books can be this good.

...more

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Apr 18, 2007 Kate rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

When I was young my parents took us to Gettysburg a few times and for some reason, I really fell in love with the landscape and the reverberating sense of history. Just walking in the fields and woods where these battles took place is a rather striking feeling and whenever I read this book, I am immediately and fully reminded of that feeling.

Obviously, you might enjoy this book more if you are a battlefield/history nerd, but even just the human element is quite gripping, especially when you cons ...more

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Mar 31, 2017 Mackey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-reviews, history-politics, historical-fiction

An extremely well researched albeit fictional account of one the most bloody and deadly battles in American history. Its lessons are relevant and far reaching even today.

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May 27, 2020 Joy D rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, historical-fiction, war, classics-20th-century, north-america, zck, library, reviewed, military

This book is the second book in a trilogy about the American Civil War. It is the only one of the three written by Michael Shaara. The other two were written later by the author’s son, Jeff. I mention this to point out that The Killer Angels can easily be read as a standalone.

It is not a “history” of the Battle of Gettysburg (1863). Of course, being historical fiction, it does not need to be, but the book summary indicates it is a balanced view. It is not. It mostly contains the southern perspec ...more

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Feb 07, 2014 Mmars rated it it was amazing

What a magnificent book. Thanks to GR friend T for the review that inspired me to read it.

Though the battle scenes are stellar, it is the way Shaara touches everything else that makes this book special. Here is one brief passage.

"Just before dawn Buford rode down the line himself, waking them up, all the boyish faces. Then he climbed the ladder into the white cupola and sat listening to the rain, watching the light come. The air was cool and wet and delicious to breathe: a slow, fine, soaking ...more

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May 24, 2019 Quirkyreader rated it really liked it

I wanted to give this book five stars but, it didn’t happen.

Possible spoilers......

To me the end seemed hurried and muddled. The descriptive writing that the story started out with changed, and just became a rush to the end. I kept rereading parts to make sure I didn’t miss anything, but that didn’t help either.

I even missed the climax of the story because of the muddled writing. I would have missed out on more if I had not studied about this battle before.

Shaara did his best to make this sto ...more

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Apr 12, 2017 Horace Derwent added it · review of another edition

tuck the 1987 edition under the quilt and let it sleep then

reread this edition by now...

|=_=|

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Jun 11, 2019 Ed rated it it was amazing

This second title in a trilogy covers the three days during the Battle of Gettysburg. The narrative threads feature several military leaders on the Union and Confederate sides of the conflict. The result is a superb military novel. I enjoyed the Longstreet and Lee personalities, which are fully explored. History (my college major) is often dry and factual. However, the historical story Mr. Shaara tells is a visceral and vivid one. These days I like to mix my leisurely reading, and The Killer Ang ...more

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Oct 10, 2012 Christopher Saunders rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2020-reads, pulitzer-prize-for-fiction

Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels offers an engrossing recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg. Shaara's narrative focuses primarily on four figures: Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General driven by hubris and bad luck (and, it's implied, ill health) to fight a battle he can't control; James Longstreet, his senior corps commander who recognizes the folly of launching an offensive battle against well-entrenched enemy troops; Union cavalryman John Buford, whose decision to engage Confederate infan Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels offers an engrossing recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg. Shaara's narrative focuses primarily on four figures: Robert E. Lee, the Confederate General driven by hubris and bad luck (and, it's implied, ill health) to fight a battle he can't control; James Longstreet, his senior corps commander who recognizes the folly of launching an offensive battle against well-entrenched enemy troops; Union cavalryman John Buford, whose decision to engage Confederate infantry on "good ground" initiates the battle; and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the professor-colonel of the 20th Maine who plays a crucial role in the defense of Little Round Top. Shaara's book is a military narrative that largely elides the war's political background; there's some dated historiography in its treatment of certain characters and events (whether treating Lee's Army of Northern Virginia with a chivalrous deference that's hard to swallow, or repeating the myth that George Meade planned to retreat after the second day of battle). There's a lot of brother-against-brother sentimentalizing (particularly the chapters focusing on Confederate brigadier Lewis Armistead lamenting his friendship with Yankee corps commander Winfield Scott Hancock) which is either poignant or tiresome, depending on one's point of view. But these minor caveats are easily overcome by Shaara's vivid characterizations brilliant, his limpid, engrossing prose (an odd but engaging mixture of terse, clipped dialogue and sometimes-rambling internal monologues) and some of the best battle writing in modern literature. If Shaara isn't as politically perspicacious as some might like, he does use Longstreet, a cynic who predicts the disaster before it unfolds, to puncture Lost Cause mythology while Union motivations are largely debated by Chamberlain and his crusty Sergeant Buster Kilrain. In any case, it's still a moving, credible, deeply human portrait of men caught in a disastrous war, where luck, human frailties and split-second decisions from a few men can shape the fate of millions. ...more

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Jun 13, 2016 Ted rated it it was amazing

Shelves: americana

Before the Battle

Moved to my Writing: https://www.goodreads.com/story/show/...

The Battle of Gettysburg; The Killer Angels

The book is written in the voice of an all-knowing 3rd person narrator. There’s quite a bit of dialogue in the book, obviously mostly made up. Each chapter has a title naming one of the commanders involved in the battle. Within that chapter the battle is described referring to the commander’s role at a particular time and place. There are considerable imaginary thought ...more

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Apr 08, 2020 robin friedman rated it it was amazing

The Classic Novel Of Gettysburg

Although it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1975, Michael Shaara's novel "The Killer Angels" (1974) was little-noted when it first appeared. The stature of the book has grown with time. It was used in a television series of the Civil War and in a movie version of the Battle of Gettysburg. The novel has been criticized on various grounds. Sharra's factual account of the battle and the importance he ascribes to Little Round Top can be challenged. Shaara focuses The Classic Novel Of Gettysburg

Although it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1975, Michael Shaara's novel "The Killer Angels" (1974) was little-noted when it first appeared. The stature of the book has grown with time. It was used in a television series of the Civil War and in a movie version of the Battle of Gettysburg. The novel has been criticized on various grounds. Sharra's factual account of the battle and the importance he ascribes to Little Round Top can be challenged. Shaara focuses too much on the high command of the two armies and gives too little attention to the soldiers in the ranks. Shaara minimizes the importance of slavery to the conflict. For all these criticisms, this book remains a moving account of Gettysburg. It will continue to introduce many Americans to the Battle and encourage them to reflect and get beyond some of the factual limitations of the book. The book is taught in history and literature classes and properly so as it introduces new generations of Americans to their history. It has also appeared in this relatively new Modern Library edition to replace the old dog-eared paperback. The remainder of this review is drawn primarily from the review I wrote some time ago of the earlier edition.

This is an outstanding work of historical fiction. The book deserves the praise it has received. There is much more to this novel than can be captured in any movie or TV series on the Civil War. The book is a fitting introduction to the Civil War and to the Battle of Gettysburg. The book illustrates a lesson too easily forgotten --how fiction, creatively done, has the power to give meaning to fact.

The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1 -- July 3, 1863. Although some students of the Civil War tend to downplay its importance to the result of the conflict in favor of the the surrender of Vicksburg to Grant on July 4, 1863, Gettysburg remains a pivotal event in the war. It has been written about endlessly.

Michael Shaara's novel is in four large chapters, one for each day of the battle together with an introductory chapter setting the stage. The story is told in sections devoted alternately to the perspectives and roles of many of the leading protagonists: the Confederate Commanding General Robert E. Lee, his "old war horse" the controversial James Longstreet, and Lewis Armistead, more of whom below. Shaara also describes the British military attache Freemantle, who was a guest in the Confederate camp during the battle and who wrote an important memoir describing his experience. On the Union side Shaara focuses on Joshua Chamberlain, a bookish college professor from Maine who became the hero of Little Round Top, and General John Buford, the cavalry commander whose actions delayed the Confederate advance at the outset of the battle.

There are many excellent historical studies of the Battle of Gettysburg. The most important is the long study by Edward Coddington. Both Steven Sears and Noah Trudeau have written two recent extended studies of the battle. Detailed specialized studies have been written on every aspect of the battle including Buford's role on the first day, Little Round Top on the second day, and Pickett's charge on the third day. These and other works make difficult, challenging reading. It is worth thinking about how such studies differ in intent and content from the novelistic portrayal of the Battle of Gettysburg in "The Killer Angels."

The novel gives a vivid picture of each of the three days of the battle, but it is more selective, focused picture than we get in the histories. The novel concentrates on the events on Little Round Top -- the far left of the Union line on the second day of the battle, July 2. The hero is Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his men from the twentieth Maine who hold of a furious Confederate charge over the boulders of Little Round Top led by William Oates of Mississippi and help save the Union position. Many years after the battle, Chamberlain and Oates would write extensively about Little Round Top and correspond with each other. Some historians tend to discount the importance of Little Round Top to the result at Gettysburg. Whether or not they are correct, Shaara's novel shows the human drama of the battle in the way a narrative history generally cannot. He captures the heroism on both sides at this revered site.

The novel also concentrates on Pickett's doomed charge on the third day of Gettysburg. He offers a portrayal of General Lewis Armistead, one the the three Confederate General's serving in General Pickett's division. In the pre-Civil War army, Armistead had been a great friend of the Union General, Winfield Scott Hancock who performed admirably on each of the three days of Gettysburg. Armistead died after crossing the Union line in the charge and, as legend has it, with his dying breath asked for Hancock's forgiveness.

The novel form allows the writer to concentrate on specific scenes, as Shaara does well in "The Killer Angels", to a degree the historian cannot. The novel also allows the writer freedom to explore introspectively. The novelist may describe the thoughts of the protagonists to a degree that goes beyond the historical record. Sharra exploits this possibility to the utmost. He gives the reader interchanges between Lee and Longstreet, for example, that are entirely plausible, that make them come alive, and that cast great light upon their activities and motivations during the Battle. We see a great deal of Colonel Chamberlain, of course. The reader hears Sharra recreating Chamberlain's innermost thoughts and is encouraged to think about the making of a hero.

The novelistic form also allows Sharaa to use characters to express their views of the meaning of the War. Sharaa gives the reader a picture of what both sides thought they were fighting for and invites the reader to think further about the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg and their significance.

This novel will not replace historical studies for those interested in learning more about the Civil War or about the details of the Battle of Gettysburg. But it is a thoroughly admirable novel which captures something of the harshness and the heroism of the War and of the American character. It will give the careful reader a good understanding, or a good way to work through to an understanding, of the events of these three days in 1863. "The Killer Angels" will encourage the reader to deepen his or her appreciation of, our country's history.

Robin Friedman ...more

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Jan 18, 2008 Ann Michael rated it liked it

Actually, I really like this book--I just don't think "It's Amazing" even though I have read it three times. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good read in historical fiction, who is interested in US history and, especially, the Civil War. Shaara does a good job of sketching the tenor of the times, the sentimentality and the conflicted feelings of the men. It's a terrific book for high school students who might otherwise find the history aspect less than compelling.

My Civil War buff fr ...more

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Dec 25, 2013 Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly rated it it was ok

Why they fought, how they fought, how they looked like, what happened afterwards, what happened before the battle, why Robert E. Lee was so popular (despite the mistakes he made here), why Abraham Lincoln had to go there after and make his Four Scores and Seven Years Ago speech (one of the most hated then during college because some professors of ours made some of us memorize this as an assignment without teaching us the circumstances behind the speech)--all these are not made too clear in this ...more

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Sep 01, 2018 Zak rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

This novel is a fictionalised account of the Battle of Gettysburg, considered by many as the turning point of the American Civil War. It is a very intimate account told through the eyes of the key participants, often moving and the battle scenes, though infrequent, are very vividly told. I was surprised to learn that many of the military leaders involved actually bore little ill-will towards their counterparts, having fought together side-by-side in other wars and wished fervently in their heart ...more

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About Michael Shaara

Michael Shaara

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Michael Shaara was an American writer of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to Italian immigrant parents (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra, which in Italian is pronounced the same way) in Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated from Rutgers University in 1951, and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne division prior to the Korean War.
Before Shaara beg ...more

Other books in the series

The Civil War Trilogy (3 books)

Books by Michael Shaara

The Civil War Trilogy: Gods and Generals / The Killer Angels / The Last Full Measure

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“There's nothing so much like a god on earth as a General on a battlefield.” — 49 likes

“The truth is, Colonel, that there's no divine spark, bless you. There's many a man alive no more value than a dead dog. Believe me, when you've seen them hang each other...Equality? Christ in Heaven. What I'm fighting for is the right to prove I'm a better man than many. Where have you seen this divine spark in operation, Colonel? Where have you noted this magnificent equality? The Great White Joker in the Sky dooms us all to stupidity or poverty from birth. no two things on earth are equal or have an equal chance, not a leaf nor a tree. There's many a man worse than me, and some better, but I don't think race or country matters a damn. What matters is justice. 'Tis why I'm here. I'll be treated as I deserve, not as my father deserved. I'm Kilrain, and I God damn all gentlemen. I don't know who me father was and I don't give a damn. There's only one aristocracy, and that's right here - " he tapped his white skull with a thick finger - "and YOU, Colonel laddie, are a member of it and don't even know it. You are damned good at everything I've seen you do, a lovely soldier, an honest man, and you got a good heart on you too, which is rare in clever men. Strange thing. I'm not a clever man meself, but I know it when I run across it. The strange and marvelous thing about you, Colonel darlin', is that you believe in mankind, even preachers, whereas when you've got my great experience of the world you will have learned that good men are rare, much rarer than you think.” — 44 likes

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