Pete gives Killer Angels rave reviews

Killer Angels is Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the three day battle of Gettysburg (July 1 - 3, 1863) during the Civil War. The story is told from the point of view of a variety of combatants including Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, James Longstreet, John Buford, and George Pickett, who led the famous, ill-fated charge of the Union line during the battle’s culmination. 

If you have any interest in the Civil War or American history in general, I would strongly recommend this book. It’s easily one of the best novels about warfare that I’ve ever read. You really get the feeling of being there, on both sides, and what it may have been like as an officer, bestowed with great power but also burdened with brutal decisions that could mean life or death. Or just to be a regular soldier, marching across open fields against volleys of gunfire, ducking under a rain of cannonballs, stepping on or over fallen men and dead horses.

War is hell they say, and it certainly seemed as much for the majority of soldiers at Gettysburg. But as far as the book goes, the prose sure is beautiful. It’s an interesting contrast: Here we have a beautiful telling of a horrible war. There were at least 50,000 casualties if you total up both sides after three days of fighting. And then the guns fell silent. July 4^th was the very next day.