Gods and Generals: A Novel of the Civil War (Civil War Trilogy)

I read/listened to Killer Angels first and when I learned of this book, I was curious to see if it had the same heft as Michael’s work. His son, Jeff, can hold his head high. It was powerful exploration of the events leading up to and through the war up to Chancellorville. It was also eerie reading it in light of a post-January 6th America; the parallels are chilling…and bear close monitoring. Highly recommended this book.

Gods and Generals is a fictional novel about the beginning of the Civil War from the perspectives of the real life historical figures who lived it. The novel has 4 primary point of view characters. From the Confederacy: Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and from the Union: Winfield Hancock and Joshua Chamberlain.The book chronicles the souring relations between the North and South as Lincoln is elected President and were all 4 men stand on the issue. Lee was famously asked to lead the Union army in putting down the rebel cause. While Lee was skeptical about session and did not particularly support slavery, he could not take up arms against his home state of Virginia so he declined the offer and quickly joined the rebel army. Jackson was a teacher at the Virgina Military Institute and a bad one at that. Completely uncomfortable in having discussions and instead delivering monologues that left his students dumbfounded, Jackson supported the confederate cause and jumped at the chance of participating in battle again. Despite Jackson's portrayal in the film Gods and Generals, Jackson comes off as some kind of fanatical religious introverted psychopath. When in battle he hopes for the death of each and every single member of the Union.In the Union, Hancock is already with the army but lives out in the growing community of Los Angeles, California performing a job as a one man security guard in charge of protecting a military supplies warehouse from the natives. When the succession begins to happen and battle is imminent, Hancock supports the preservation of the Union and makes arrangements to join the battle even causing a divide with his friend Lewis Armistead who has resigned his commission and joined the Confederate army.Chamberlain is a professor in Maine who begins to feel like he should contribute in this war. That he is the only one around him who understands how important this war really is. The older professors scoff at him and his views make them so uncomfortable that he is forced to take an extended leave from work. So Chamberlain decides that he should lead by example and enlists in the army and others recommendation towards his intelligence immediately earns him a Lt. Colonel ranking (after initially turning down a higher rank in order to learn to the business). Chamberlain spends the early years of the war learning to become an good soldier and an effective battle commander.The book does a great job of chronicling the early (and many) successes of the Rebel army led by Lee with Jackson as one of his right hand men (James Longstreet being the other). Lee and Jackson experience so many dominant victories that they begin to think of their army as unstoppable with them only really suffering one setback at the Battle of Antietam.On the other hand, you begin to feel the frustration through the eyes of Hancock, an experienced and decorated soldier, who has to watch multiple opportunities to end the war go by unnoticed and/or ignored. Hancock and others become frustrated with the war early on as they can see plenty of plan's where they can destroy Lee's much smaller army either fail or aren't even attempted either due to politics or incompetence. The first couple years of the war see's several changes in commanders on the Union side, most being political appointees with most being dismissed after a single battle due to a disastrous battle plan or a failure to aggressively pursue the enemy. In the beginning of the war, the only real success was George McClellan (who was already the 3rd or 4th person to lead the Union army) taking on Lee at Antietam and sending him scurrying back after a bloody battle. But he almost immediately loses his job because of his failure to pursue Lee's army South. After McClellan's departure you see the Union go through disastrous defeat after another as new commanders are brought in and dismissed one after another for failure to have any success or real plan on the battle field.Everything builds to the battle of Gettysburg, which is covered in the 2nd book The Killer Angels, and by the time you are done with this you want to pick up the book immediately.

[...]Years ago I stumbled across The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara, a historical novel about the battle of Gettysburg, and thought I would give it a chance. I have never forgotten it. The narrative was one of the finest I've read in the historical novel genre. Interestingly though, I didn't make much effort at the time to read the other books in the series, written by Michael Shaara's son, Jeff Shaara, Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure. After several years, I've finally taken some time to read the prequel to The Killer Angels, Gods and Generals, and it is a book I will not soon forget.Character is where Gods and Generals truly shines. The author takes sufficient time, in my opinion, to establish the central characters, such as: Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Winfield Scott Hancock, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, among others. The best part about the book is that neither side, Federal or Southern armies, are painted to be totally evil or degenerate. Characters fight for home and family, nation and unity, principles and virtues, not for a blind rage to dominate or control. As a reader, you feel emotionally affected by each of their stories, regardless of which side they fought for. The beginning of the book is especially poignant as the Civil War begins in earnest and friends begin to siphon off into opposing camps. The subtext of the book--"The heartbreaking saga . . ."--is very appropriate to the realities presented in the book. Although it's not oppressive in its "heartbreaking," it did affect me in a very real and lasting way. I pondered often on the impact of the Civil War and felt sympathy for those who's lives were everlastingly changed by it.Perhaps the only criticism I could offer regarding the book is that it once or twice becomes too consumed by the nuances of military tactics. But those times were very brief and not terribly noticeable. Overall, it's an excellent book.The moments that truly matter in this book are the ones surrounding the complex characters you're introduced to. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's story is really the pay-off of this book, and it is genuinely moving. I would highly recommend Gods and Generals, and I am sure little time will pass before I read the third and final book in the serious, The Last Full Measure[...]

This book was listed as VERY GOOD, but it is in LIKE NEW condition except for minor cosmetic wear at the top of the spine. Very satisfied with this purchase.

Almost finished the book, yes still a 5 star rating. Amazing narrative for a book of this genre. It has been a long time wanting to read this book and I am so satisfied with it. Great story and battle sequences of the American Civil War. For those of you who have not read it, give it a try. You will not be disappointed. Thoroughly enjoying it.

Great book. Jeff and Michael Shaara are exquisite story tellers

Speechless, yes I'm deeply touched by the galant and sense of honor of all those that were the chosen to build a great nation and country. Fantastic book!

So well written that you connect with the characters, feeling their pain, fear and sometimes joy as the the turbulent early events in the Civil War unfold.The description of the Battle of Fredricksburg was particularly disturbing, describing in detail the slaughter and futility of War. Discussing in particular the pain of a commander who knows that what he is doing is wrong, but must do as he is ordered: the officers dilemma.This is a MUST read book for anyone who is interested in military history and is an excellent prequel to "Killer Angels"

COMO PREQUELA de «LOS ANGELES ASESINOS» tanto como novela independiente , la novela de Shaara resulta excelente. El precio, además, es económico, así que el amante de la buena literatura histórica no puede pedir más. El tema, por lo demás es apasionante y muy desconocido es España, lo que resulta una pena, porque pueden sacarse algunas lecciones bastante útiles. Existe traducción española, pero mal distribuida y cara.También existe una excelente pelicula basada en esta novela y con el mismo título, pero es tan diferente de la novela, que más que adaptación es complemento de la misma.