The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy) (original: 1974; edição: 1996)

I was drawn to this book for several reasons, including the fact that for many southerners, the loss of this war is still a fresh wound. Like so many other readers and fans of historical fiction, I Iove that I'm able to learn so much of our important history in such an entertaining way. However, my enjoyment is often tempered by the fact that the writer can never truly know his subject(s). Perhaps because there were so many historical characters in this book, or perhaps because I was so surprised by some of the characterizations in this book, it distracted me more than usual. Having said that, I was completely drawn in and was glad that I did not know the outcome for every character. The ending, in particular, was extremely moving. ( )

NA

It deserved the Pulitzer.

10/2012 - reading this book again! I have read it a couple times before and I still really like it. A slow read, lots of details, and lots of characters can be hard but the emotion, the perspective and the realization of death and suffering during the war carry this book :) ( )

10 word review: the definitive reader for Gettysburg, should be required for HS ( )

I approached this novel with some hesitation, even reluctance. I had read quite a few novels that centered on war recently and thought I might have had my fill. I am also not a huge fan of historical fiction. I tend to like my history straight, afraid I might confuse the real thing with the fictional account. But I have experienced historical fiction that makes the real events come alive, and so enhances my ability to grasp the time, the place, the people and what truly transpired.

The Killer Angels did all of that for me. It may be the best historical fiction I have read. It faced several obstacles, given it was entirely focused on war and one battle in particular, the Battle of Gettysburg. But it overcame those obstacles by presenting events through the eyes of the men who had to fight and helping me to know these men. On the Confederate side, I was of course very familiar with Robert E. Lee, and had heard of George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart, but I was not knowledgeable at all of some of the other main characters: James Longstreet, in particular, or Lewis Armistead, Dick Ewell or Jubal Early. For the Union, I knew only George Meade and was completely unfamiliar with Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, John Buford, John Reynolds and Winfield Scott Hancock. These names became people. Nor did I fully comprehend how well the generals on either side knew one another, having gone to West Point together, having served for many years with one another before having to choose sides; they not only respected the other side but often maintained friendships regardless of the conflict.

Despite all this I could have been turned off by descriptions of the geography of the battlefield, the maneuvers of the armies, the force counts. Instead I was pulled in as the strategies of the two sides developed over the five days, and saw how critical current and accurate information was to decision-making. The Killer Angels opened my eyes to the human side of the players, their motivations, their doubts, their fears, and the role the Battle of Gettysburg played as the turning point in the war. ( )