On a trip to the Gettysburg battlefield with his family, author Michael Shaara was inspired to write about the men who fought there. The resulting historical novel Killer Angels — for which Shaara was awarded the Pultizer Prize in 1975 — takes place over three days in July and is told from the point of view of Generals Lee, Longstreet and Armistead, and Colonel Chamberlain.

Shaara does an admirable job of balancing fact with fiction. Much of his research came from the writings of various soldiers present at the battle, including Longstreet’s From Manassas to Appomattax. Successfully embellishing history with believable dialogue and the soldiers’ thoughts and feelings, Killer Angels is an enthralling accomplishment. Shaara’s son Jeff continued his father’s work by finishing the Civil War series.

I became familiar with Killer Angels after watching the movie Gettysburg, based on Sharra’s novel. Starring Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain, Martin Sheen as Lee, Tom Berenger as Longstreet, and Richard Jordan as Armistead, the movie at 261 minutes was intended to be a television miniseries, but instead was released in theaters. Thanks to the many civil war reenactors who took part in the filming, the battle scenes vividly come to life.

Killer Angels and Gettysburg are about more than the Civil War; they capture the essence of everyday heroes who fought a hellish battle.

Robert Bates – Glenwood Branch