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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is one of the most powerful narrative depictions of battle ever written. There’s a reason it’s a classic.
All I can say about this book is that it made me fall in love with history and become a history major. This book holds a special place in my heart. I have never found a historical fiction so accurate and well written as this one.
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What feels like a good overview of the battle at Gettysberg and the turning point of the Civil War. Covers the major players and their parts along with their successes and failures. A fair bit of filler in this historical fiction format, but well done overall. 4 stars
Brilliant. Completely deserving of the Pulitzer. Of all the books I've read on the American Civil War, this is the most affecting. Makes me want to walk the fields of Gettysburg.
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An interesting (and from what I can tell relatively accurate) account of the battle of Gettysburg. However, Shaara almost seems apologetic towards the Confederates given the sheer number of words devoted to "The Cause" and the lack of a clear, anti-slavery perspective from the Unionist side.
The Killer Angels is a book oozing with passion. Michael Shaara was born 60 years after the Civil War, though it consumed him. His son Jeff writes in an outstanding introduction to the novel about his father telling him a story of two best friends who fought on different sides at Gettysburg, miraculously reunited and fated to die together on the ground at Gettysburg where the father and the son stood. Michael Shaara cried as he told it. Jeff had never seen his father cry before. The Civil War has that power. There is something mystical about it, like reading an authentic American fairytale. The characters are legendary, the battles ingrained forever in our psyche.
In the Killer Angels Michael Shaara humanizes the characters that we know so well, though through most media they mostly feel like legends, cold and detached, overly historical. Shaara presents history through a story, inspired by the soldiers' own writing rather than what historians said for them. In turn he creates a novel that breathes truth, authenticity, and life. This is a fantastic book, so clearly made with love that it infects the reader.
In the Killer Angels Michael Shaara humanizes the characters that we know so well, though through most media they mostly feel like legends, cold and detached, overly historical. Shaara presents history through a story, inspired by the soldiers' own writing rather than what historians said for them. In turn he creates a novel that breathes truth, authenticity, and life. This is a fantastic book, so clearly made with love that it infects the reader.