Product Description

The heartbreaking saga of the years preceding The Killer Angels

"SHAARA'S BEAUTIFULLY SENSITIVE NOVEL DELVES DEEPLY in the empathetic realm of psycho-history, where enemies do not exist--just mortal men forced to make crucial decisions and survive on the same battlefield. . . . [He] succeeds with his historical novel through fully realized characters who were forced to decide their loyalties amid the horrors of their dividing nation."
--San Francisco Chronicle

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96739 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-29
• Released on: 1998-04-29
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 6.85" h x 1.12" w x 4.12" l, .56 pounds
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 512 pages

From Amazon.com
In a prequel of sorts to his father Michael Shaara's 1974 epic novel The Killer Angels, Jeff Shaara explores the lives of Generals Lee, Hancock, Jackson and Chamberlain as the pivotal Battle of Gettysburg approaches. Shaara captures the disillusionment of both Lee and Hancock early in their careers, Lee's conflict with loyalty, Jackson's overwhelming Christian ethic and Chamberlain's total lack of experience, while illustrating how each compensated for shortcomings and failures when put to the test. The perspectives of the four men, particularly concerning the battles at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, make vivid the realities of war.

From Publishers Weekly
Like father, like son? The publisher is aggressively linking Shaara's first novel with The Killer Angels, the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning (1974) novel about the Battle of Gettysburg by his father, Michael Shaara (d. 1988). Indeed, the son's book is a prequel to the father's, following some of its central characters, generals all, from 1858 until 1863 and Gettysburg. The good news is that, while not matching his father's beautifully wrought prose, Shaara tells a tale impressive in its sweep, depth of character and historic verisimilitude. Generals Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain and Winfield Scott Hancock are back fighting for the North, and Robert E. Lee for the South. The story is told from their points of view, along with that of Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Each is a reluctant warrior who emerges as a gifted soldier possessed of a strong moral conscience in a time of bitter partisanship and hatred. Because it covers five eventful years, the narrative is sometimes overwhelmed by its wealth of dramatic material; the battles, though convincingly realized, tend to blur into one another. Yet, like his father, Shaara gets deeply into the minds of his protagonists, particularly Stonewall Jackson, who, though shy and deeply religious, proved to be a brutally efficient military leader. Like father, like son? Not quite, but the Shaara genes, it seems, are in fine shape. Major ad/promo; author tour. (July) FYI: Gods and Generals will debut in Gettysburg during the July 4th week, to tie in with the annual Civil War reenactment.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A better title for this abridgment would be "Vignettes from Gods and Generals" for we are only sketchily introduced to the men who determined the future of a whole nation. Whether it is religious faith, republican ideals, or devotion to a homeland that prompted the decisions that led to the death of over half a million soldiers in the Civil War, the generals have only four hours to make them. Shortening this earnest novel of idealism and death (LJ 5/1/96) results in trivializing its content and frustrating history lovers (surely the largest market for such a work). Stephen Lang reads with warmth and assurance. His suitability for the task cannot be questioned. If only listeners could hear him read the book in its entirety. Not recommended.?Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Coll. of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.