This book was a gift to a Civil War History Buff. He was delighted with the book and especialy enjoyed the personal comments about what the Generals said or thought during or before a battle that the author detailed in the book. He couldn't put it down.

Can anyone read this book and then NOT want to go and visit Little Round Top, Cemetary Ridge, and the other Gettysburg locales of this great historical drama?
"Killer Angels" does a great job telling the story of Gettysburg from the point of view of a handful of the top officers on both sides. It shows the planning and strategy (or frequently, the lack of such), as well as the shooting and dying.
My only quibbles come when rating this work as a piece of fiction, where Shaara sometimes lacks a final measure of deftness. There's a lot of insight here, but there's also just the occasional sense that we're looking at "characters" and not "real people." Certain dialog and actions are a little too obviously designed to give us a message. It's that rare book that I think could have been better with another 75 pages, which could have allowed the author to better flesh out some of the characters and scenery and to more naturally move the plot along.
Mostly, though, this story is smooth and believable. "Killer Angels" is hard to put down -- even though you know how it ends. Flaws are minor, and I would give this book 4 1/2 stars if I could. I heartily recommend it.
Those who enjoy it may also want to pick up "Gates of Fire" by Steven Pressfield, another great read about the complex human experience of war.

This is now one of my favorite books. I loved it. After visiting Gettysburg someone suggested I read it and it brought the whole battle, and the people fighting it, alive for me. Being a a Yankee, I was surprised how much I cared for the Rebels. It truly made the history alive and compelling. A great book for history buffs and also anyone who loves a good book. You do not have to be a civil war or history buff to love it.

This is the best book I've ever read. Shaara brings to life the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, as well as the key players that collided those fateful days in July.

Exhilirating, heroic, tragic. The adjectives are endless and, in truth, it's impossible for me to accurately express how good this book is. If there is any interest in military or American history, or if you just enjoy reading masterful literature, then this book is a can't miss.

Thank you, Mr. Shaara, for this gift to American culture.

Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels" is well known to a couple of generations of American Army officers, for whom it has been required professional reading. It is also well known to many fans of the Civil War as the basis for the 1993 movie "Gettysburg." It may be, with Anton Myrer's "Once An Eagle", one of the best novels on the American way of war.

Sometimes fiction does a better job of explaining what happened than conventional history does. "The Killer Angels" may be proof of that truism. Shaara has suceeded in capturing the key events of the epic Battle of Gettysburg; he has also suceeded in humanizing some of the principal personalties. The reader can appreciate what Gettysburg must have been like for Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee and his stalwart Corps Commander James Longstreet, and for Union officers John Buford and Joshua Chamberlain. We see the unfolding battle through the eyes of these four individuals and a host of other leaders. Shaara was generally faithful to the historical record when he wrote in 1974; his story is fictional to the extent that we are privy to the unrecorded thoughts and feelings of the men around whom Shaara builds his narrative. We see these men as the human beings they were, not the semi-mythic historical personalties (or in some cases the forgotten men) they have become.

In a series of well-written vignettes, Shaara relates the story of the battle. In one, Union cavalry commander John Buford recognizes the key terrain at Gettysburg and holds it until the arrival of Union infantry. In another, Joshua Chamberlain defends the extreme left of the Union line in an action that will win him the Medal of Honor and enduring fame for the 20th Maine. Confederate General Lee struggles to reorient his army to fight an unexpected battle to which his absent cavalry commander did not alert him. In several vignettes, Confederate General Longstreet struggles against his military instincts as he carries out the orders of General Lee. Their efforts to make sense of the chaos of the battlefield, to lead their soldiers, make tough decisions and deal with their hopes and fears hold lessons for us in the present day. Shaara's prose is highly readable, authentic to the period, even page-turning.

This book is highly recommended to students of the Civil War and the military art. Readers without background in the Civil War and the Battle of Gettysburg may find the narrative somewhat challenging to follow.