The Killer Angels

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Despite their objections to Lee’s tactics Hood and Longstreet did everything they could to obtain the objectives. He offers a portrayal of General Lewis Armistead, one the the three Confederate General's serving in General Pickett's division. Add to this, the fact that these were real men, with real failings, fighting real friends and the book almost seems to narrate itself. 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. The personalities of the generals and the tactical reasons for their success or defeat in battle are all part of the narrative.

The fact that Chamberlain was a citizen solider (being a college professor before volunteering for the army) and yet acted so competently and with such courage was amazing to experience. who seem to belong in some Arthurian myth/melodrama next to Longstreet and Hancock who could easily have been cast in some post-apocalyptic Battle Royale. 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. One of Hancock’s officers, Union Captain Henry Bingham, “attended to the fallen Armistead on Cemetery Ridge.All Americans should read this, especially in this time when the Confederacy and the causes of the War are misunderstood and misconstrued.

Though the writing is in the third-person, each of the viewpoint chapters sticks to the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the chosen character. I especially liked how he was able to use personal thoughts and feelings of the characters of the war.Shaara jumps back and forth between dozens of viewpoints, each serving an important function and providing a unique perspective on the events surrounding the conflict. The text is divided in four parts, each one dealing with a specific day from June 29th to July 3rd 1863.

Thus begins the Battle of Gettysburg, the four most bloody and courageous days of America's history. I certainly don't believe Jeff's claim that his father was the first author to publish historical fiction of this sort. A superb recreation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant. Maybe it felt that way because the folks in charge of the Union's army were complete bumbling idiots, compared to the Southern generals.It is the third summer of the war, June 1863, and Robert Lee's Confederate Army slips across the Potomac to draw out the Union Army. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the college professor turned Colonel who joins the army out of a sense of idealism and devotion to the concept of freedom. Goodbye To All That' was Graves fascinating autobiography, much of it devoted to his life-shaping experiences during WWI. Lee really jumped the shark with this one by sending in Pickett's division on day 3 -- what a useless slaughter. It was just one more scene from this war, one more horror, one more mass of death, blending together with all the rest.