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The Killer Angels

(The Civil War Trilogy #2)

Michael Shaara

4.32 · Rating details · 70,565 ratings · 4,522 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 fishhook ...more

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

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

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 moment ...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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Mar 24, 2009 Kemper rated it really liked it

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

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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Feb 25, 2012 Charity 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 EisNinE rated it it was amazing

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

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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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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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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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, ahe ...more

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

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

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 ...more

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

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

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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Nov 17, 2014 Julie rated it really liked it

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

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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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.

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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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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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Mar 31, 2017 Mackey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history-politics, my-reviews, 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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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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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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Mar 28, 2008 Lynn rated it liked it

Recommends it for: History buffs, people who want to learn US history in a fictional format.

Shelves: historical-fiction

I wanted to really like this book in its entirety, but I got bogged down in the specific tactics of the battle of Gettysburg. I tried to study the maps and think about the positions of the various divisions....but ultimately realized that effort was detracting from what was really important to me: the motivations for the Civil War, the differences between the Southerners and Northerners, the perceptions each had of the other side, the role belief in God played, the human factor in the winning/lo ...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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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 thoughts of ...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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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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Feb 27, 2014 Louise rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, pulitzer-prize-winning-author, zre-read, us-civil-war

This year I am re-reading some favorite books to see how they match my memory. I read this one more than 30 years ago when I was living in Gettysburg.

Last week, I would have said that this was a story of the officers. It was who they were, how they thought and felt. After the re-read I see an equally powerful theme as the story of how the Confederate Army lost the battle (and the war) due to the chivalrous ideals of its general and a smaller but important theme as the conflicting reasons for fi This year I am re-reading some favorite books to see how they match my memory. I read this one more than 30 years ago when I was living in Gettysburg.

Last week, I would have said that this was a story of the officers. It was who they were, how they thought and felt. After the re-read I see an equally powerful theme as the story of how the Confederate Army lost the battle (and the war) due to the chivalrous ideals of its general and a smaller but important theme as the conflicting reasons for fighting.

Lee disdained defensive warfare (i.e. digging trenches was unsoldierly). He relied on a Napoleonic offense (as in the poem: the “Charge of the Light Brigade”). He would not use spies (i.e. private contractors) and relied on his commanders to serve as scouts. The reader sees the culmination of this philosophy through the eyes of General Longstreet, who, over three blistering hot days, watches, and cannot stop, the devastation to come.

The author shows how some saw the war as an extension of the Revolution. A British southern sympathizer sees the plantation aristocracy as being right at home in England… they would love Queen Victoria, he thinks. Colonel Chamberlain of the Maine Volunteers sees the vast country open for free men, no kings, queens or aristocracy. One of Chamberlain’s soldiers, the Irishman, Kilrain, speculates that if the war is lost there will be three competing countries, north, south and the west with no peace in the future. Tom Chamberlain (a citizen soldier and brother to the colonel) observes that, despite all the “political fast talking” … “if there weren’t slaves there never have been no war”.

The description of the battle is stirring: how it looked, felt, and sounded as the two armies faced each other; the futility of General Armistead’s breach of the wall; the litter of spent bodies, body parts and horses and the contemplation of General Longstreet and Colonel Chamberlain before and after it. Ironically, the horror is recounted in beautiful prose.

I remembered this book as the best fiction I had read. Since that time, many more books and distance from the Battlefield (which I once saw every day) it is still up there, maybe not the top, but still very high. It is gripping, thought provoking and remains a must read for both Civil War buffs and serious historians.

Many years after leaving Gettysburg (and not long ago), I learned that Pickett’s Charge, where two white armies fought over slavery, took place on the land owned by a free Black man. In a town where people debated the number of blue and gray casualties in the peach orchard, discussed the position of the bodies at Devils Den (before they were moved to stage photographs) and other arcane bits of what happened in 1863, this never came up.
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Aug 17, 2015 Tosh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, am-civil-war

freedom…is not just a word

The Killer Angels is so beautifully written. I had a perpetual lump in my throat while reading, thinking about the men, the friendships, the mistakes, the loss of life, and the stubbornness of the cause. I could literally feel the tragedy of it all in every sentence.

Stuart and his stupid pride. The confusion of orders. General Lee’s refusal to listen to Longstreet. My heart was overflowing with sympathy and frustration for both sides. So much responsibility, so muc ...more

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Jun 27, 2019 Sotiris Karaiskos rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction

The oldest and, in the opinion of the experts, best book of this trilogy, which is the core of the trilogy, as the two others were written by the author's son many years later and rely on it. In my review of the first book, I expressed my admiration for its excellence and for its exquisite description of the war events and of the emotions and personalities of the protagonists, but what I understood by reading the second book is that it is even better, having all the good elements of the first bu The oldest and, in the opinion of the experts, best book of this trilogy, which is the core of the trilogy, as the two others were written by the author's son many years later and rely on it. In my review of the first book, I expressed my admiration for its excellence and for its exquisite description of the war events and of the emotions and personalities of the protagonists, but what I understood by reading the second book is that it is even better, having all the good elements of the first but to the fullest extent. A truly ideal historical novel.

The writer takes us to the battle of Gettysburg, perhaps the most decisive battle of the American Civil War and certainly the most bloody. Through the eyes of some of the protagonists we watch the events that led to it and then its evolution and bloody ending. The description of the battle is so compelling that I can not find words to describe it so I must confine myself to mentioning that its effect upon me when I read it can be compared only with very few of my previous reading experiences. It is amazing how he transmit us the tension that prevailed, its impact on the participants, the anxiety of death and the hope of victory. Especially when he comes to the final bloody charge what the author does is incredible. While in the battle description until then he uses conventional methods, creating exciting scenes of action dominated by heroic acts, in this final charge, however, he describes nothing more than an unnecessary massacre, with a crude writing that is also capable of provoking intense emotions. There is nothing heroic about it, no hunt of glory, nothing to show military courage, it is a charge that is doomed and this is what everyone knows, and every death is an unnecessary sacrifice that can only cause immense sorrow.

Beyond the battle, however, the book stands out for the excellent outline of the characters of its protagonists. It is great he way he is giving us their thoughts and their feelings as they see the events evolve and the more horrible scenes pass in front of their eyes. Their anxiety about the outcome of the battle, their pain for the losses, the feelings of sadness and joy they experience according to the side they are, their nostalgia for past peaceful moments, when their enemies were friends, all this things the author offers us ideally and so in the end I felt a sense like I lived the battle closely. The writer, however, is not only confined to the emotional field, through the words and thoughts of the protagonists but also of the less important participants he shows us the perceptions for the civil war, the reasons the soldiers believed to be fighting and that is what completes this book and gives it even more depth, enough to be able to say for sure that it is one of the best historical novels I have read.

Το παλαιότερο και κατά τη γνώμη των ειδικών καλύτερο βιβλίο αυτής της τριλογίας, που αποτελεί τον πυρήνα της καθώς τα υπόλοιπα δύο γράφτηκαν από τον γιο του συγγραφέα πολλά χρόνια μετά και βασίζονται πάνω του. Στην κριτική μου για το πρώτο βιβλίο εξέφρασα τον θαυμασμό μου για την αρτιότητα του και για την έξοχη περιγραφή που περιέχει για τα πολεμικά γεγονότα αλλά και για τα συναισθήματα και τις προσωπικότητες των πρωταγωνιστών, αυτό, όμως, που κατάλαβα διαβάζοντας το δεύτερο βιβλίο είναι ότι είναι ακόμα καλύτερο, έχοντας όλα τα καλά στοιχεία που υπάρχουν στο πρώτο αλλά στον μέγιστο βαθμό. Ένα πραγματικά ιδανικό ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα.

Ο συγγραφέας μας μεταφέρει στη μάχη του Gettysburg, ίσως την πιο καθοριστική μάχη του Αμερικανικού Εμφυλίου Πολέμου και σίγουρα την πιο αιματηρή. Μέσα από τη ματιά μερικών από τους πρωταγωνιστές της παρακολουθούμε τα γεγονότα που οδήγησαν σε αυτήν και στη συνέχεια την εξέλιξή της και την αιματηρή κατάληξη της. Η περιγραφή της μάχης είναι τόσο συνταρακτική που δεν μπορώ να βρω λόγια να την περιγράψω οπότε πρέπει να περιοριστώ στο να αναφέρω ότι η επίδρασή της πάνω μου όταν τη διάβαζα μπορεί να συγκριθεί μόνο με ελάχιστες προηγούμενες αναγνωστικές μου εμπειρίες. Είναι καταπληκτικός ο τρόπος που μας μεταφέρει την ένταση που επικρατούσε, την επίδραση της στους συμμετέχοντες, την αγωνία του θανάτου και την ελπίδα της νίκης. Ειδικά όταν φτάνει στην τελική αιματηρή έφοδο αυτό που κάνει ο συγγραφέας είναι απίστευτο. Ενώ στην περιγραφή της μάχης μέχρι τότε χρησιμοποιεί συμβατικές μεθόδους, δημιουργώντας συναρπαστικές σκηνές δράσης που κυριαρχούνται από ηρωικές πράξεις, σε αυτή την τελική έφοδο, όμως, δεν περιγράφει τίποτα περισσότερο από μία άσκοπη σφαγή, με μία γραφή ωμή που όμως είναι ικανή να προκαλέσει έντονα συναισθήματα. Δεν υπάρχει τίποτα ηρωικό σε αυτήν, κανένα κυνήγι της δόξας, τίποτα που να δείχνει στρατιωτικό θάρρος, είναι μία έφοδος καταδικασμένη και αυτό το ξέρουν όλοι όσοι συμμετέχουν σε αυτή και ο κάθε θάνατος είναι μία άσκοπη θυσία που μπορεί μόνο να προκαλέσει απέραντη θλίψη.

Πέρα από την μάχη, όμως, το βιβλίο ξεχωρίζει για την εξαιρετική σκιαγράφηση των χαρακτήρων των πρωταγωνιστών της. Είναι πολύ ωραίος ο τρόπος που μας βάζει στις σκέψεις και τα συναισθήματά τους καθώς βλέπουν τα γεγονότα να εξελίσσονται και τις πιο φρικτές σκηνές να περνάνε μπροστά από τα μάτια τους. Η αγωνία τους για την έκβαση της μάχης, ο πόνος τους για τις απώλειες, τα συναισθήματα λύπης και αγαλλίασης που βιώνουν ανάλογα με την πλευρά που βρίσκονται, η νοσταλγία του για παλαιότερες ειρηνικές στιγμές, όταν οι σημερινοί τους εχθροί ήταν φίλοι, όλα αυτά τα προσφέρει ιδανικά ο συγγραφέας και έτσι στο τέλος μου δημιουργήθηκε μια αίσθηση σαν να είχα ζήσει τη μάχη από κοντά. Ο συγγραφέας, όμως, δεν περιορίζεται μόνο στον συναισθηματικό τομέα, μέσα από τα λόγια και τις σκέψεις των πρωταγωνιστών αλλά και λιγότερο σημαντικών συμμετεχόντων μας δείχνει τις αντιλήψεις που επικρατούσαν για τον εμφύλιο πόλεμο, τους λόγους που οι στρατιώτες θεωρούσαν ότι πολεμούν και αυτό είναι που συμπληρώνει αυτό το βιβλίο και του δίνει του ακόμα μεγαλύτερο βάθος, αρκετό για να μπορέσω να πω με σιγουριά ότι είναι ένα από τα καλύτερα ιστορικά μυθιστορήματα που έχω διαβάσει. ...more

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Apr 29, 2019 Katy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer-fiction, pulitzer-challenge-2019

A human face and emotional fictionalized account of Gettysburg.

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Sep 26, 2011 David Carr rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literary-fiction

The Cumberland County Library asked me to speak to their book group, part of the North Carolina Humanities Council "Let's Talk About It" series devoted to Civil War fiction. I began by talking about the challenges to the reader in The Killer Angels: keeping the geographies and personalities clear, clarifying and grasping the perspectives of North and South, and the simple disadvantage of knowing how the battle comes out. But I also introduced some special challenges to reading about the Civil Wa The Cumberland County Library asked me to speak to their book group, part of the North Carolina Humanities Council "Let's Talk About It" series devoted to Civil War fiction. I began by talking about the challenges to the reader in The Killer Angels: keeping the geographies and personalities clear, clarifying and grasping the perspectives of North and South, and the simple disadvantage of knowing how the battle comes out. But I also introduced some special challenges to reading about the Civil War itself.

Old data say that 620,000 died; new data (9/21/2011) put it at 750,000. Using the first numbers, think of this: 204,000 were deaths in battle; 314,000 were deaths from disease (scurvy, typhus, dysentery, pneumonia, malnutrition): and the Union Army recorded 25,000 deaths in Confederate military prisons. (The Confederacy had poor medical service, so its losses to disease and wounds were worse. Farm boys were especially vulnerable.) Using losses and days, one table provides the deaths-per-day of American wars: For example, in World War II, 416 died each day. In Vietnam, an average of 26 died each day of the war. In the Civil War, 600 people died each day. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the topic of this novel, the 26th Regiment of North Carolina lost 714 of 800 men, 584 on the first day of fighting. The 24th Michigan Regiment lost 362 of 496 men. The 1st Minnesota Regiment lost 82 percent; the 141st Pennsylvania lost 75.7 percent. Losses were equivalent to 2% of the US population. More than 3000 horses were killed at Gettysburg.

Although The Killer Angels attends to the generals and colonels in command, none of this blood is missed. The generals could walk or ride to the front line, could see the enemy in its camps, and had clear ideas of imminent reckonings. Shaara is simply brilliant in opening the hearts of his military men, allowing us to grasp their allegiances and to see them weep. To the generals, this is a moral war as well as a mortal one, and therefore it is filled with ambiguities and tensions. It is fought on American soil. It is fought against former comrades and friends. It is not about territory, kingship, faith, incursion, or transgression. It is largely about punishment, fragility, and shattered interdependence. It is leaden with variables: tactics, troops, geography, weather, arms, food, sleep, leadership, trust. History, memory, bravery, courage, resolve, loyalty, friendship, and respect are all played out, literally, on the field.

Shaara's brilliance lies in his use of the monologue, diary- and letter-like personal perspectives out of the minds and perspectives of Chamberlain and Longstreet (the most compelling of the book), and Lee, whose portrait is the most detailed. He is a living saint to his men; they pause, applaud, cheer and sing for him. Bands strike up martial music in his presence. He is a source of tragic awe. General Longstreet sees him arrive early on the morning of the terrible third day of battle:

Lee came out of the mists. He was tall and gray on that marvelous horse, riding majestically forward in the gray light of morning outlined against the sky, the staff all around him and behind him. Lee alone in the center, larger than them all, erect, soldierly, gazing eastward toward the enemy line. He rode up, saluted grandly. Longstreet rose. Lee rested both hands on the pommel of his saddle. The mist thickened and blew between them; there was a ghostly quality in the look of him, of all his staff, ghost riders out of the past, sabers clanking, horses breathing thick and heavy in thick dank air.

Lee is flawed and failing, and costs the Confederacy the battle, and that costs the Confederacy the entire war. But this novel exists far apart from the idea of victory and loss: it is about tension and conflict that rends flesh and bone as it rends society and human nature. This is the finest Civil War novel, based on the opinions of others. It is among the strongest, fateful, inevitable war novels I have read. It is deeply compelling, grounded on history, but not on history alone. Though it is clearly and fastidiously based on documentary sources, what Shaara tells here lives and breathes. It is what cannot be told in archives, tables, maps, or (in Edmund Wilson's words) patriotic gore.

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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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Quotes from The Killer Angels

“There's nothing so much like a god on earth as a General on a battlefield.” — 42 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.” — 36 likes

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