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Title: The Killer Angels: A Novel

Author: Michael Shaara

LOC Call No.: PS3569.H2 K55

LOC Subjects:
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction.
Gettysburg (Pa.), Battle of, 1863 -- Fiction

Source: owned

Rating: Just like the Battle of Gettysburg, this got off to a sluggish start, but captivated me once all of the forces were in place. Excellent.

Readings: 1/22/97

I don't think I have ever read a more intimate account of the Civil War in general, or of the Battle of Gettysburg in particular. While this is admittedly a work of fiction, it is very well researched fiction. The book is almost entirely dialogue with only a smattering of narrative to keep the reader on track. Shaara tries to let the characters speak in their own words according to letters and other documents of the time. The narrative text that Shaara does inject is concise and clean -- every sentence draws the reader a little closer to actually being at Gettysburg those 130-odd years ago. The major characters include Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, John Buford, and Joshua Chamberlain. Most of the story focuses on Longstreet and Chamberlain as Shaara studies them in roughly alternating chapters. By the end of the book, I felt like I had been at Gettysburg, if not as a participant, then at least as an observer.

Oh, and by the way... this won the Pulitzer Prize.


Page created 1/22/97.
Last updated 03/17/03 at 14:33.

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