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kitdunsmore 's review for:
The Killer Angels
by Michael Shaara
That rare thing: a historical novel that puts story before history and manages to do both proud in the process. I am not a Civil War or American history buff. I would never have picked this up if my husband had promised me a good read. But I'm so glad I did. You get the joy of feeling like you are right there, like you understand what it was like even though it was 150 years ago, and you care about the characters (who are historical figures) and what happens to them.
Historical fiction is prey to two great weaknesses: including historical detail that doesn't further the story and unsatisfying character arcs because real life lacks the shape of well-crafted novel. This book has neither problem. It reads like a rich novel, and yet has extra punch because the people and places are real, the battle really happened, and most of the action can be found in your average American history text book.
If they'd used books like this to teach history when I was in school, I would have taken all the history classes I could.
Historical fiction is prey to two great weaknesses: including historical detail that doesn't further the story and unsatisfying character arcs because real life lacks the shape of well-crafted novel. This book has neither problem. It reads like a rich novel, and yet has extra punch because the people and places are real, the battle really happened, and most of the action can be found in your average American history text book.
If they'd used books like this to teach history when I was in school, I would have taken all the history classes I could.