Shaara's son Jeff has published a Civil War prequel and sequel to his father's book, but those volumes cover more than a single battle and the focus on a limited number of characters does not work as well. Even though these five men are battlefield commanders, they still manage to personalize the battle in which more Americans were killed than were lost in the entire Vietnam War. Through the eyes of these five men the crucial points of the battle-preventing the Confederates from taking the high ground on July 1, stopping Hood's division from sweeping the Federal left flank on Little Round Top on July 2, and the high water mark of the Confederacy with Pickett's Charge on July 3-are crystallized as desperate actions agonized over by the leaders who have to make the crucial decisions. Lee, James Longstreet and Lewis Armistead for the Confederates-was not a new idea to me. I am one of those people who first read Michael Shaara's 'The Killer Angels' after seeing the film 'Gettysburg.' Consequently the book's novel idea of telling the story of the Battle of Gettysburg by focusing on five key participants-General John Buford and Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain for the Union, along with Generals Robert E. For fictional accounts, Killer Angels is about as good as it gets. I have found that once Gettysburg has gotten under your skin, you'll never tire of reading about this important battle that changed the course of the war. His heroics in leading his men on Little Round Top is a thing of legend, probably saved the Union and earned him a Medal of Honor. He started the Civil War as a lieutenant colonel and finished as a brigadier general. Chamberlain was not a trained soldier, but a college professor. They had all died for nothing and he sent them.The army would not recover from this day.' I also gained an appreciation for Joshua Chamberlain. 'Along with all the horror of loss, and the weariness, and all the sick helpless rage, there was coming now a monstrous disgust. He is tortured that Lee won't listen to his advice, and inconsolable after so many men are killed. Lee's number two man, he knows that a frontal attack (Pickett's charge) will be disastrous. Once a carefree, amiable man, he's still reeling from the recent deaths of 3 of his 4 children in one week. I found myself especially haunted by James Longstreet. In fact, Shaara focuses on four main aspects: Buford's establishing Union lines on good ground before the battle, Longstreet's ambivalence about fighting at Gettysburg, Joshua Chamberlain and the 20th Maine defending Little Round Top and Pickett's Charge. Killer Angels does not attempt to cover every minute of the Battle of Gettysburg. It's as if you're an eyewitness to history. Shaara used diaries, journals, letters and memoirs to recreate not only what was happening on the battlefield, but also, what these men were thinking, seeing and feeling. What makes Killer Angels different is that each chapter is written through the eyes of the various leaders from both the Union and the Confederacy including Buford, Longstreet, Lee, Chamberlain, Armistead, as well as an English observer, Fremantle. This fictional account gives us a viewpoint not to be found in nonfiction works. But after reading dozens of books about the Battle of Gettysburg, it was refreshing to read Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning Killer Angels. Most times, I would much prefer to read a work of nonfiction as opposed to historical fiction.

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