Book Review: The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara

       This Pulitzer prize winner brings history to life for any reader.   The experience of author Michael Shaara helps create interest: he was a boxer and writer of science fiction before discovering historical fiction.   He was also a police officer, which trains an individual in understanding human behavior, especially when confronted with difficult(personal) decisions.
      The Battle of Gettysburg remains as a defining battle in American history for it was on this field that the Union was preserved for future generations.   Abraham Lincoln's address has acted as the spearhead in tribute to those who made the supreme sacrifice for freedom as we know it.
     Author Shaara guides the reader over the ground chronologically as he must.  But the intimate conversations among known historical figures give human feelings to all the named participants.   Whether Robert E. Lee or Joshua Chamberlain, the personalities carry the story.
        Shaara carefully illuminates the fateful decisions that propelled the Union forces to ultimate victory on the field.   He is able to lift "the fog of war" and allow the reader to discover the factors that swung the tide in favor of gen. George Meade of the Union Army of the Potomac.   This is the Army that U.S, Grant would inherit shortly.
      The sections devoted to Col. Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine Regiment(of approx. 320 men) is especially telling.  Chamberlain survived not only Gettysburg, but several more major engagements and the war.   His actions at Little Round Top are textbook examples of leadership, daring, and courage above and beyond the call of duty.  He was rightfully awarded a Medal of Honor.
     His depiction of General Lee bring him to life, describing the deteriorating health of an individual who personally carried the weight of the seceding states on his shoulders, and who, after successive victories before Gettysburg, proved his own fallibility at the site of the Pennsylvania town.
    The book was made into a movie and continues to enjoy significant sales and new readers.
It's a 5 star recommendation!
Note:
Author Shaara is of Italian heritage.  The original spelling of his family name is Scirra, pronounced the same. The Killer Angels won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1975.