Reading List

February 10, 2010

The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

Alas, Breanne, another book about war.

This one is about the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. 180,000 men killed and countless more wounded. It was the turning point of the war. Up until that point, the Confederacy was definitely winning. After their major loss at Gettysburg, they were really fighting a losing battle.

But that is not the story of this book. This is the sequel to Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara, Michael’s son. It tells the stories from the commander’s sides so there is a good deal of discussion about the philosophies of the war, about how it is fought and more importantly, why it was fought. Most of the Northerners thought they were fighting for the freedom of the slaves. The Southerners were fighting for their life style, feeling that the federal government was suppressing them. It tells the story of Generals and colonels who are very good friends, but on the opposite sides of the field. It tells the story of real people. Mostly it is told from the point of view of the Confederate offices, but sometimes you are in the camp of the Republic.

I think about what it would be like, first of all, to be one of the soldiers who were asked to just march into the face of the fire of an entire army that was on top of a ridge behind a stone wall. But it makes you think more so of he thoughts and feelings of the men who commanded them to go.

One of the brief stories is of a Colonel who lost a leg in a previous battle, and so had a hard time walking on his new “peg-leg”. When the call came to charge, all of the officers were command to walk and not ride because a man on a horse was instantly targeted as an officer and so was really targeted by everyone. This colonel refused to be relieved, and so he still rode his horse. And another colonel, a friend, also rode his horse so the man would not be alone in the peril. Of course they were both killed. I do not do the story justice. The book does it justice.

It is not a book about blood and gore, although there are of necessity small scenes of that. It is a book about humanity in an inhuman situation.

Yes I enjoyed it very much. I read the whole thing in 4 days. I just couldn’t put it down.

Recommended by Margaret and Melanie - and by me after I read Gods and Generals.