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I felt like I was there witnessing the battle of Gettysburg. An excellent book. Well written and captures your interest from cover to cover.
He never saw action at Fredricksberg. One really gets a feel for the war, and what it must have been like to be there. One elderly veteran of the 20th Main was alive, and wrote immediately to correct Chamberlain's account. It is well written, beautifully told, and in terms of the larger facts of the battle of Gettysberg, very accurate.
After much reading, it is very clear to me that the history in this wonderful novel when it comes to its central character is entirely off base. However, if one is looking for a real history of the battle of Gettysberg that is less influenced by Gen. Chamberlain's exaggerations, it is best to look elsewhere. As a novel, this book gets five stars. Many years ago I read this book, and it began an obsession for me. The civil war was one topic that I could not read enough on, and a man I idealized, one of my heros, was Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Chamberlain, if anything, was a tireless self promoter, and Shaara relies on Chamberlain's own accounts to tell this story. etc.Chamberlain was long lived, but not long lived enough.
He published a story about how assaulted the sunken road, and had to cover himself with the body of a dead comrade etc. See: Joshua Chamberlain: The Soldier and the ManSince Shaara relies on Chamberlain's own work, and since Chamberlain was a shameless self-promoter and had a tendency to. As an accurate history however it is lacking in that Shaara relied on the accounts of a man who was a self-promoter. This is unfortunate, because the book is truly outstanding and well written and engaging. In as much as some historians have also relied on this account, the truth about what occurred has been and somewhat obfuscated in some of the literature. "exaggerate" the historical record, it is difficult to see this book as anything else than a somewhat inaccurate portrait of Chamberlain's role at Gettysburg.
He is the central character of this novel.Firstly, allow to me to say that this novel is outstanding. As it turns out, Camberlain was safely across the river the entire time. Later in life Chamberlain told the story of his involvement at Fredricksberg. A truly wonderfully told story, and an excellent novel.However, it is not a five star book, because the story of the central character, Joshua Lawerence Chamberlain, does not comport with the reality of what happened. And this is a big mistake.
This is great book for anyone that loves history and wants a fascinating perpective from the officers involved.
He did not believe it. "A moment later Buford looked that way and the horse was bare-backed. Second, the author should be able to set a mood and make you feel you are really there. Accomplished. There are of course always exceptions to the rule and there are a few fiction books that are worth the time to read.
Buford knelt. I wish I had read it before my first (and so far only trip).For me good fiction should have several characteristics all of which Shaara accomplishes skillfully. Once I got back I read Killer Angels for the first time and much of what I had read previously made more sense. What it is however is a powerful read that doesn't gloss over the horrors of war. Before my visit to Gettysburg over a year ago I had read a long work on the battle.
Accomplished. A pack mentality for fiction is usually a bad thing. For me a good example of this comes in the death scene of General John Reynolds. Third, and in many ways the most difficult, is speech has to sound realistic. The story should interest me just from reading the jacket. I am really not much of a reader of fiction.
He was dead." (pages 101-102) In a brief few lines Shaara has brought his readers onto the battlefield as if we were really there at the scene of Reynolds death. Lastly, and maybe of less importance, is that side characters should be interesting and not just space filler. It is a wonderful book to read and should be required reading before any trip to Gettysburg. The language is not overdone nor does Shaara go overboard in his description. Reynolds lay in the dirt road, the aides bending over him. For me the more hyped a book is the less likely I am to find them worth my effort.
It doesn't claim to be. His eyes were open, half asleep, his face pleasant and composed, a soft smile. More authors should read out aloud what they write and see if it sounds natural. Accomplished. Arthur Freemantle fills this role nicely.Let's face it this is not history at it's finest. I was not prepared for what I was reading.
What I think a reader will take away from this work is a rudimentary knowledge of the Battle of Gettysburg and the major players. I can highly recommend this as a good starting point for the study of the battle and a book that is well worth rereading for those with in depth knowledge. Fighting is not glamorous and Shaara doesn't make it out that way. The Killer Angels however is an exception. The interplay between Generals Lee and Longstreet or maybe the exchanges between Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his brother Tom show Shaara's mastery of this. When Buford got there the thick stain had already puddled the dirt beneath his head.
Accomplished. He broke off and rode to see.
Idealism versus realism. How did we get here today. Step by step. At Gettysburg, the great forces of North and South met and the North prevailed - barely, with great costs to both sides.The reader is treated to a novel that provides many levels of meaning: personal, community, culture, politics, religion, nation, destiny, eternity. We want a focus. Just like the historical characters in the novel. It doesn't dodge the moral or personal character issues. Just like the America it describes.
Good versus evil and good won. What is the attraction.As Americans, we want simplicity. A shot from out of the BLUE. City versus country. Good versus good and good won.
It remains a best-seller for 35 years in a time far removed from the Civil War.Yet, as the 1-3 star reviewers say, it is not a great novel, it is not especially accurate, it is slow at times, the wording is weak in places, the content is not new, it covers no new philosophical ground, etc. The Civil war attracts and compels like no other. Progress versus tradition. A science fiction writer publishes a break-through civil war novel in 1974 as the Vietnam War and the 1960's recede slowly from the American consciousness, It doesn't take sides.
Like the beaches of Normandy, every step mattered and many lives were lost based on human decisions and errors. Decision by decision. The stark, unavoidable existential experience is rewarding.This work is attractive and thought-provoking in spite of its flaws. Shaara is able to lure the reader into and through these 4 days of the apocalypse. Bullet by bullet.
North versus South. He does not provide the simplistic answers that we want to hear, yet the reading experience is very satisfying. Then and now. Shaara brings us face to face with our bittersweet, mysterious humanity in personal, community and historical context. It quickly wins a Pulitzer Prize.
Inch by inch. Black versus White. We want a clear story. Christianity versus Christianity.
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