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| The Killer Angels | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Shaara
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  (519 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6881
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0345348109
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345348104
ASIN: 0345348109
Publication Date: August 12, 1987
Release Date: August 12, 1987
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Glorifies Battle, but Does So Compellingly. . . September 30, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am not a civil war buff, but I enjoy historical fiction, and I decided to read this book for its Pulitzer Prize and what it might teach me about the Battle of Gettysburg. On these fronts it delivered as advertised. Although the book is about 90% brooding and waiting for battle and only 10% battle, the writing is compelling enough to hold one's interest through the brooding and to teach me more than I ever knew about the strategies, generals, turning points, blunders and significance of Gettysburg --- or at least the author's views on these points.
Nonetheless, I found myself consistently detatched from the characters and the action. The story is told exclusively from the perspective of the officers in the battle and, for the most part, from that of the southern officers. This is not to say it has a southern bias; indeed blame is placed on Southern hero Lee and the book elevates Southern "scoundrel" Longstreet. It is just that, ultimately, I was not capable of sympathy or admiration for their bravery, honor and nobility, in which the book invests heavily. My own views about slavery and the south are just too strong. Its like reading about the qualms and struggles of German aristocrats in the Nazi army. Interesting, but they are so fundamentally on the wrong side that neither admirable traits nor understanding of their perspective can produce empathy, redemption or even forgiveness. And, as to the horrors of war and soldiering, the gritty, more soldier oriented view of, say, a Cold Mountain, remained foremost in my mind.
 excellent book, even if you are not a buff August 12, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I remember seeing the movie "Gettysburg" when it first opened
in the early nineties. It magnificently brought to life the "glory"
and tragedy of thousands of men in a napoleonic charge. The
book matches the movie in that respect, but it also provides
insights into the motives of several of the main participants in
a way that a movie cannot (mostly generals Lee and Longstreet
on one side and Colonel Chamberlain on the other). My understanding
is that the book is as true to history as a novelization can be.
However, it is also extremely readable - I wish somebody pointed
me to it when I was reading about the civil war in highschool.
I am looking forward to reading Jeff Shaara's two books that
complete the trilogy.
Historical Fiction at it's Best July 28, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Ever wonder what it was really like those 3 days in July at the Battle of Gettysburg? Was it hot, what did the men wear, what did they eat, how did they pass the time, who were the leaders of the regiments? Good historical fiction brings characters to life. Great historical fiction like that of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara makes you believe you are there.
You've learned about the battle in school, now read Killer Angels and feel what is was like to be part of the battle. Read about Robert E. Lee, what his decisions were based on and why he was so beloved by his army. Be present as he struggles with decision after decision from his headquarters. Feel the frustration of Longstreet as he tries to convince Lee of another course. Learn about the flamboyant Pickett and the egocentric J.E.B. Stuart. Go to the Union camp and read about the 20th Maine Regiment and Chamberlain who with sheer determination hold the precious ground on Little Big Top with a bayonet charge. Imagine and feel Buford's decision to engage Rebel forces, knowing that he was seriously outnumbered but determined to save the only high ground in the area.
I was mesmerized and emotionally involved in the book from the beginning to the end. It isn't just a story of a battle, it's the story of our nation and the men who fought and died for what they believed in. A great novel!
Great book! July 3, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
THe Killer Angels makes the battle of Gettysburg come alive for the reader. Shaara takes historical facts and injects the human dimension which makes the novel both educational and a page turner. Highly recommend that people of all ages read this masterpiece and immerse themselves in the most turbulent period of our nation's history.
A fine basic view......... June 15, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The great Douglas Southall Freeman stated in 1936 that Gettysburg was the most studied battle in the history of the world. Despite all that has happened in the past 70 years, that is probably still true. I first encountered this fine book a number of years ago, when I was Medical Officer for The Basic School at Quantico. It was, and probably still is, required reading for the Second Lieutenants. Whole volumes of "nonfiction" have been written about each day of Gettysburg, but this novel contains more truth than most of them.
This volume looks at Gettysburg from both Union and Confederate viewpoints. The courage and determination of both sides is well shown. The high placed mistakes on the Condederate side are well known; those on the Union side are less evident, but still real. The South should have won; The South should have been completely destroyed. Both statements are true, but neither event happened, and the war went on. The issue of who was "right", and who was "wrong" will never be settled. I suppose it's obvious that I vote with Longstreet and Hood. And yet, I still maintain that Robert E. Lee was the greatest soldier who ever lived.
We can play "what if" unto eternity...if Jackson isn't shot at Chancellorsville, he is on the left the first day...but, if Dick Ewell does his job, it doesn't matter. And, if JEB Stuart isn't joyriding, maybe the whole battle never happens. Maybe Lee ordered the wrong attacks, but if they're made earlier...And, we forget that Pickett's Charge almost worked....Here's one my fellow Confederates won't like [I have support for it in a footnote in vol. 2 of "Lee's Lieutenants"]....at the time of Chancellorsville, President Davis was thinking of giving Jackson his "fourth star", and Braxton Bragg's job....Jackson was a great fighting General, but mainly because Lee was his boss...as an Army Commander...Jackson was just as difficult and unpleasant as Bragg, without Bragg's strategic and logistical ability...Jackson has gone down as a martyr; if he had lived, he may well have destroyed The Army of Tennessee, and gone down as "Tom Fool", which was his nickname at VMI.
This is an "essential" book. I have said quite the opposite of other very fine Civil War books, that are written for the professional. Only one significant error of fact: from Pickett's words, we are left with the impression that General James Kemper was killed in The Charge; Kemper recovered, later served as Governor of Virginia, and lived out his days. If you have the slightest interest in the Civil War, don't fail to read this.
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