The Killer Angels

Michael Shaara

The Killer Angels

New York : Random House , 1993

The Battle at Gettysburg is considered by most historians as the single most important battle of the Civil War . The Killer Angels ' written by Michael Shaara is a fictional story of this battle using historically accurate facts giving life to a period of time that has long passed . It gives readers a chance to not only read about the war and get the basic fact of what happened , but to also give the reader a deep understanding what these men felt

while working up to and during the battle . It gives a tribute to both sides and reminded me that there is only one winner and one loser in battles . Both sides fought their hardest and best strategy was in my opinion the deciding factor . The battle was fought for four days and pitted brother against brother during a dark period in American History

The book is written in daily style stories that are chronological with historical characters such as Commander Robert E . Lee , Corps Commander James Longstreet , Union officers , John Buford and Joshua Chamberlain to mention a few . With these historical figures the author shows some important facts surrounding the battle . The first was to stop the confederates from taking the high ground . The next was to stop Hood 's division from sweeping the Federal left flank on Little Round Top and the third was Pickett 's charge . Other points of the battle that was pointed out in the story included Lee 's struggles to gather his army for battle after he was not alerted and Longstreet 's fight internally with his military instinct and following s Lee had dispatched . Shaara is very good in telling of the horror of the war in a very graphic and emotional story

The morality of slavery and of protecting a way of life was the key issues in the Civil War and was shown very well in the story . Both sides had very deep convictions on what they believed and the author was very effective showing this in the novel . I think too many people forget that there are always two sides of a story and Shaara does an excellent job in trying to give a balanced look at both sides of a very sad issue in society at that time . The personal touch of the characters of the book was easily understood and helped me to see not just a battle but what makes up a battle

The book was very well written , but at times was very hard to follow But then again most books on battles and military , in my opinion , are very difficult to follow . After reading the short biography on the author I felt even more confident that what I was reading was pretty close to the ideas and concepts individuals had during that time . I hope to find other books comparable to this author with stories that are fictional yet blended with non-fiction . I believe that...