tmilligan 's review for:

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

5.0

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This book makes me feel empathy towards men on both sides of the war, without feeling like I shouldn't morally condemn the Confederates. Lee may be a nice old man, who faced a choice I would never want to face, but he was also failing in health and age, unable to recognize the modern battlefield for what it was and lacking in courage. It is reprehensible when people go around feeling inexorably drawn to a certain path and claim they could choose no other when they make no apparent to push history in a different direction. However, I suppose, if Shaara's portrayal of Lee's thoughts is at all accurate, then Lincoln's Second Inaugural would have resonated with both sides in viewing the war's outcome as a sign and judgment from God.