The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara
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Book Reviews of The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War
Book Review: Still the best, after all
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Shaara isn't a well-known figure in American literature. He spent most of his writing career producing short stories, mostly science fiction. He only wrote three novels while he was alive, the current book, a boxing novel titled "The Broken Place" and a futuristic doomsday thriller titled "The Herald". The boxing novel was critically successful but didn't sell well, and "The Herald" was an abject failure. He had one novella, "For the Love of the Game" which was published after his death, and made into a sappy Kevin Costner movie. However, among historical novelists, especially those writing about the Civil War, Shaara has a stellar reputation, right up there with Stephen Crane. "The Red Badge of Courage gets assigned to students to read sometimes, I'm sure, but "The Killer Angels" gets assigned also. The question is, why does the book have such a stellar reputation? The answer is because it's a very good book, was ground-breaking when it was written, and is relevant even now.
"The Killer Angels" re-examines the Battle of Gettysburg. The author doesn't recount the course of the whole battle, instead focusing on a few of the main participants in the fighting, and what they saw and did. On the Confederate side, he spends most of his time discussing Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate army, and his chief subordinate, James "Pete" Longstreet. On the Union side, the high command of the Union army is almost absent from the plot. George Meade, the commander of the Union army, has only a few lines in the story and does really nothing. Winfield Scott Hancock, Meade's chief subordinate, is a minor character too. Instead, the action focuses on more junior officers: a cavalry general named John Buford, primarily, and a college-professor-turned-army -colonel named Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Buford--without definite orders to do so--started the fighting by opposing the advance of Confederate troops into Gettysburg. Chamberlain helped defend Little Round Top, the hill that anchored the southern end of the Union line, on the second day of the fighting. These two events, Buford starting the fight and Chamberlain saving the right flank, are the focus of the first two-thirds of the book. They are followed by Pickett's Charge, which is the climax of the book.
"The Killer Angels" has had critics over the years, those who don't like the writing style and those who don't like the liberties that Shaara took with the characters. He *did* make a few outright errors: Buford's men, for instance, weren't armed with repeating rifles. Shaara did something else, though, something significant. He changed the historical narrative, at least in emphasis, considerably. Prior to the publication of "The Killer Angels" no one paid much attention to John Buford's role in the battle. It was usually noted that he started the battle, but Buford got little credit for what followed. Anyone who knows anything about the course of the Battle of Gettysburg knows that the terrain heavily favored the Union defense against the Confederate attacks, even after the Confederates drove the Union from their original defensive positions. Here, finally, Buford got the recognition he deserved, and historians since are obliged at least to explain why they don't think he deserves credit, though most instead think he deserves it.
Also, the role of the spy, Harrison, was only briefly touched upon prior to this book. Almost nothing is known about Harrison, with even his first name being uncertain. What research has been done, what knowledge there is, can be traced back to people hungry for more information because of Shaara's book. There have actually been articles written discussing Harrison's identity (with photos of people who *might* be him). He's now entered the pantheon of minor characters of the Civil War, along with George St. Leger Grenfell, Abner Doubleday, the Comte de Polignac, and Hiram Berdan. Harrison can thank Shaara for this.
Third, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a celebrity in late 19th-Century Maine. He was governor for multiple terms (the Democrats conceded that he was too popular to oppose, and endorsed him). He was an upper-level educational reformer, attempting to turn his school (Bowdoin College) from a school for preachers into what became a modern, liberal arts campus. But Chamberlain fell into obscurity in the early 20th century, and though there was actually a book written about the 20th Maine (Chamberlain's regiment at Gettysburg) in the 60s, almost no one, even Civil War buffs, had ever heard of him. For whatever it's worth, "The Killer Angels" made Chamberlain famous, in ways he probably never anticipated.
This is, in spite of its flaws, a truly great novel. It influenced the writing of other historical fiction considerably. I'm sure someone could discover a separate, earlier instance of the multiple-points-of-view narrative style on a battlefield, but I'm unaware of any, and regardless of that, "The Killer Angels" popularized it, so that almost no one tries the old single narrator style any more. Shaara's son Jeff and Philip Crocker ("To Make Men Free") use the same style and shamelessly copy Jeff's dad. Crocker dedicated his first book to Shaara, and acknowledges his debt at the front of the book. "The Killer Angels", however, is still the best.
Book Review: A Grand Tragedy
Summary: 5 Stars
As the existence of 259 reviews and a close to 5-star rating indicates, this is a book that will just blow you away. It's hard to imagine that anyone who reads it could fail to be deeply moved. It is quite simply one of the finest works of historical fiction ever written by any author.The best historical fiction can convey insights that may prove elusive for even the best writers of straight history, who are limited to what can be definitively known about the thoughts and motives of historical actors. One of the most impressive aspects of Shaara's book, for me, was the persuasive way he recreated the process by which Robert E. Lee convinced himself that the ill-fated assault history knows as Pickett's Charge had a reasonable chance of success. Indeed, the Confederate side of Shaara's novel reads like a Greek tragedy. General James Longstreet plays the role of chorus (or perhaps Cassandra), while Lee is the noble hero, but with an unusual twist: for his tragic flaw is not personal hubris or overconfidence in his own ability, but his fierce belief in the ability of the men he led to do more than what was humanly possible.
The book rests on four great characters. In addition to Longstreet, Lee's key subordinate, the others are Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who commands a regiment of Maine volunteers; the Union cavalry General John Buford, whose stand west of Gettysburg on the first day of battle critically shapes the course of events that follows; and Lewis Armistead, an older Virginian who commands one of the brigades of Pickett's division. It is a tribute to the power of Shaara's characterizations of the latter three men that he has done much to rescue them from the historical obscurity into which they were fading. Now, there is a new statue of Buford on the field at Gettysburg west of the Lutheran Theological Seminary; Chamberlain's life has been chronicled in a major new biography, and his own war memoirs are back in print; and more visitors to Gettysburg undoubtedly make a point of seeking out the humble monument along Cemetery Ridge that marks the place where Armistead fell mortally wounded at the climax of Pickett's charge.
This is a book of great set-pieces -- Chamberlain's defense of Little Round Top, the final Confederate assault on Cemetery Ridge -- but the genius of Shaara's writing lies in its basic elements. His pacing is brilliant: alternating sentences of Proustian length with mere fragments, subordinate clause marches after subordinate clause, as the following excerpt from his legendary description of Pickett's Charge demonstrates:
"Kemper's men had come apart, drifting left. There was a mass ahead but it did not seem to be moving. Up there the wall was a terrible thing, flame and smoke. [Armistead] had to squint to look at it, kept his head down, looked left, saw Pettigrew's men were still moving, but the neat lines were gone, growing confusion, the flags dropping, no Rebel yell now, no more screams of victory, the men falling here and there like trees before an invisible axe you could see them go one by one and in clumps, suddenly, in among the columns of smoke from the shell. Far to the left he saw: Pettigrew's men were running. . . . Armistead moved on, expecting to die, but was not hit. He moved closer to the wall up there, past mounds of bodies, no line any more, just men moving forward at different speeds, stopping to fire, stopping to die, drifting back like leaves blown from the fire ahead."
Once you've read Shaara's fictional account of Gettysburg, I also recommend the treatment of the battle by Shelby Foote in the central chapters of the second volume of his Civil War trilogy. The Gettysburg chapters have also been published as a separate book, "Stars in Their Courses." It is as moving and beautifully written as Shaara's book, and has an equivalent ability to surprise you with fresh information and insights. If you haven't previously understood why the Battle of Gettysburg has the hold it does on America's historical imagination, these two books will make it clear.
Book Review: This book changed my life
Summary: 5 Stars
It has taken me nearly a year to write this review because the urge to gush spasmodically was so strong, I figured I'd better wait out the urge until I could deliver something a little more constructive by way of a review. ( Also, I was afraid that I didn't have enough superlatives in my vocabulary.) This is one of maybe a dozen books in my 50+ life that I can say truly CHANGED my life. I grew up in the Western US where the Civil War was just a passing reference in Jr. High history classes, the cause for which was attributed completely to a fight against slavery, and nearly 20 years on the East Coast wasn't enough to bring it to my notice. That all changed with this book.
So what is it about this book that endures so strongly more than 30 years on and accomplishes what so many have attempted and failed? I think there are two very specific things: 1) it humanizes the war and gives us a clear look at the personalities who drove both sides of the war, and 2) without seeming agenda, it crystallizes the critical successes and, more important, failings of both sides. I'm sure that early on, Mr. Shaara was faced with the question of whether to write a novel or a non-fiction book about the war and, through exhaustive research through the correspondence and journals of the participants, he wove a novel that reads like a historic record.
I think it was a stroke of brilliance to focus solely on the Battle of Gettysburg with just enough background to accurately frame the battle in the context of the war. It was arguable the turning point in the war and, with a finer focus on the way in which the 20th Maine Infantry under Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain defended and held Little Round Top against overwhelming Confederate forces, we can even identify the exact point at which that turning took place.
There isn't enough time or space to enumerate the things I didn't know (and still don't!) prior to reading this book, but let me expose my ignorance name a few:
1. I didn't know that the British were such a strong presence in the Confederate camps. Nor did I know that the intent of the Confederates was to set up a stratified society based somewhat on the British nobility system.
2. I didn't know that the U.S. Marines, under command of then-Colonel Robert E. Lee took back the federal armory and arsenal from John Brown at Harpers Ferry just prior to the beginning of the war.
3. I didn't know that Lee was first offered command of the Union army!
4. I didn't realize that many of the officers on both sides had attended West Point together, were devoted friends, and had fought side-by-side in the Mexican War just prior to the American Civil War.
5. I didn't realize that leadership of the Union Army was a revolving door and that, for most of the war, it was run by bureaucrats out of Washington, D.C.
6. And the list goes on and on...
I'm now a Civil War junkie and happily searching for more and more resources. I don't think I'm allowed to include an URL in my review, but it is important to know that the Library of Congress has just scanned nearly all of its Civil War-era maps and they are available electronically on its website.
A caution for others who have embraced the study of the Civil War based on "Killer Angels". Michael Shaara died 1988 and did not repeat the amazing accomplishment of this book. His son, Jeff, has undertaken books that lead up to Gettysburg ("Gods and Generals") and after Gettysburg ("The Last Full Measure") and, although I think they are probably well-researched, his narrative doesn't hold up to that of his father. So when you read "Killer Angels", you are reading a standalone masterpiece.
Book Review: The American Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
The Killer Angels is a fantastic book, in my words. It shows the grim reality of the civil war and even more importantly it showed what each army was fighting for. The Union side was fighting for freedom of many things and the Confederate side was fighting for their way of life. This book put you into the shoes of the generals on each side, which really grabs your attention and keeps you interested. Michael Shaara gave this book outstanding character development, believability, plot, and the slang language that was used back in the days of the civil war. The character development in this book almost made you feel as if you already knew the person the author was talking about. When the book starts out it puts you in the shoes of a spy. Spies were very hated through out the laps of the civil war because they were not to be trusted. As the book progresses, it starts to talk about the generals and their feelings toward each other. General Robert E. Lee is one of the most highly respected men on the Confederate side. In some portions of the book, Lee will be resting inside of his tent and then something important will come up but his officers are leery of waking him because of his health conditions. General Longstreet is another main character on the Confederate side. He has a well developed character; he shows extremes of emotion. He thinks that his opinion should be trusted to the highest and taken into consideration; that is where he tends to fight with General Lee.
Chamberlain and Buford are well known on the Union side. They all act as if they were brothers just in the way they talk to each other. This book likes to give out various viewpoints of the Union and Confederate participants. In one section, Chamberlain is talking to the Maine boys and telling them they do not have to fight if they do not want to. But, it would be greatly appreciated if they would help because Chamberlain needed the men. One of the Maine boys speaks up for the entire regiment and he tells Chamberlain what they have all been through in the past week. The Maine regiment saw some of the heaviest combat in the civil war. During this section of the book, there are many emotions happening. The story is constantly changing places as both armies' move from place to place. Awareness and tensions are always running high do to the thought of war. The high officers are always strategicly planning something and opinions tend to clash. The book also gives you pictures to depict whose brigade is positioned where. The book covers the days Monday, June 29, 1863, through Friday, July 3, 1863. These four days were the most memorable of the battle of Gettysburg. So many men gave their lives for a cause they truly believed in. The whole book seems to just come alive in front of you. The language that the men talk, the sounds of battle that were made, like the artillery and burst of gun shots, and the heartbreaking emotion of loosing a friend right in front of your eyes. Near the end of the story, there is one obsolete general who has been given a very specific order that he must try to fulfill. If he succeeds, it could possibly win the war for the Confederate side; however, if he fails there will be nothing left of his regiment and the Union army will prevail. This grand general is George Pickett and he is the end of the civil war.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the stories of war. This book has very detail descriptions of each general and the various things that ran through their heads at specific times. I think that even a person who does not like to read would find this book enjoyable.
Book Review: A Novel of Gettysburg
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an outstanding work of historical fiction. The book deserves the praise it has received. There is much more to this novel than can be captured in any movie or TV series on the Civil War. The book is a fitting introduction to the Civil War and to the Battle of Gettysburg. The book illustrates a lesson too easily forgotten --how fiction, well done, has the power to give meaning to fact.The Battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1 -- July 3, 1863. It remains, probably, the pivotal battle of the Civil War and has been written about endlessly.
Michael Scharaa's novel is in four large chapters, one for each day of the battle together with an introductory chapter setting the stage. The story is told in sections devoted alternately to the perspectives and roles of many of the leading protagonists: the Confederate Generals, Lee, Longstreet, and Armistead, the British writer Freemantle, a guest in the Confederate camp, and the Union Generals Chamberlain and Buford.
There are many excellent historical studies of the Battle of Gettysburg (Steven Sears and Noah Trudeau have written two recent ones) and it is worth thinking about how these studies differ from the picture of Gettysburg we see in "The Killer Angels".
The novel gives a vivid picture of each of the three days of the battle, but it is more selective, focused picture than we get in the histories. The novel concentrates on the events on Little Round Top -- the far left of the Union line on the second day of the battle, July 2. The hero is Colonel Joshua Chamberlain and his men from the twentieth Maine who hold of a furious Confederate charge over the boulders of Little Round Top and help save the Union position.
The novel also concentrates on Pickett's doomed charge on the third day of the Battle. We see a great deal about General Armistead (in Pickett's Division) who dies after reaching the Union lines and remained a devoted friend of Union General Hancock over the wall.
The novel form (fiction) allows the writer to concentrate on specific scenes, as Sharaa does well in "The Killer Angels", to a degree the historian cannot. The novel also allows the writer to explore the relationships among and the thoughts of the protagonists to a degree that goes beyond the historical record. Sharra exploits this possiblity to the utmost. He gives the reader interchanges between Lee and Longstreet, for example, that are entirely plausible, that make them come alive, and that cast great light upon their activities and motivations during the Battle. We see a great deal of Colonel Chamberlain, of course. The reader hears Sharra recreating Chamberlain's innermost thoughts and is encouraged to think about the making of a hero.
The novelistic form also allows Sharaa to use characters to express their views of the meaning of the War. The reader is given an unforgettable picture of what both sides thought they were fighting for and is invited to think about the War and the Battle for him or herself.
This novel will not replace historical studies for those interested in learning more about the Civil War or about the details of the Battle of Gettysburg. But it is a thoroughly admirable novel which captures something of the harshness and the heroism of the War and of the American character. It will give the careful reader a good understanding, or a good way to work through to an understanding, of the events of these three days in 1863. "The Killer Angels" will encourage the reader to think about, and to deepen his or her appreciation of, our country's history.