genre_fiction_is_literature 's review for:

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
3.0

The Killer Angels works as an effective character study of those involved in the three day long Battle of Gettysburg. It carries the reader along using simple but detailed maps, and we learn the military motivations behind the strategies used in each battle. The prose is good, even poetic in places, but the emotions and fiery passion of the soldiers is not captured.

This book is more of a non-fiction narrative than creative historical fiction, and is worth reading. It is massively hyped but never quite turns into the gripping page-turner I expected. Gates of Fire holds the crown in this genre.