Killer Angels review
The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, is a historical novel that describes the three days of fighting at Gettysburg in the summer of 1863. The book illustrates the horrors of brother fighting brother, friend fighting friend, and the brutality of this devastating war that left 50,000 Americans dead. Although the book is a work of fiction, Shaara is very accurate in his depictions and characterizations. It is the humanity and personality that he infuses into the book that makes the reader feel a personal bond with the characters. Shaara revives this legendary battle from historical obscurity and breaths new life into the characters. The reader will be unable to put the book down. Many people believe that the Civil War was not based solely on slavery but it was. Without the uprising of John Brown and the election of an abolitionist president who got less than 40% of the national vote, secession would not have occurred. Or at least it would have been seriously delayed. The Northerners truly believed that the slaves deserved to be free, and their desire to set slaves free was the cause of the Civil War. Just before the Battle of Gettysburg, Colonel Chamberlin of the 20th Maine gave a speech to a group of mutineers.
On the second day at Gettysburg, Gen Lee ordered the first charge, in an attempt to take to take a ridge from the Federal Army. With an uphill advantage, the Federal troops released a continuous bombardment of artillery as the Confederate troops made their way across. Gen Lee not realizing the futility of his actions ordered a second charge the following day across an open field. The Federal army wiped out most of the Confederate troops before they were halfway across the field, and had little trouble defeating the remaining soldiers who passed through the artillery and gun fire. Gen Lee as well as other Southern Generals have not yet seen the changing dynamics of modern war, and they viewed defensive tactics and entrenchment as somehow shameful. They chose to fight the North on grounds of the North's choosing-high ground from which it can and did slice the South to pieces. A good commanding general would have seen that both charges were hopeless. In both cases the Federal troops had fortified vantage points, while the Confederate army had no sufficient protection. Had Lee seen this, he would not have ordered the charges. Instead, he was too confident of the ability of his men and his overconfidence led him to defeat. The Killer Angels was an exceptional book, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the thoughts and fears of both armies during the Civil War. The book is a bloody, sad and exciting novel that plays brill
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Approximate Word count = 986
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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