The Killer Angels

The Killer Angels is the best-known work of American author Michael Shaara. This historical novel was published in 1975 and, a year later, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. The novel tells the story of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, which took place from July 1 to July 3, 1863. The story is told from the perspectives of several commanders from both the Union and Confederacy, including Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, three of the most famous figures to emerge from the US Civil War. In 1993, director Ronald F. Maxwell adapted the novel into the film Gettysburg, one of the most historically accurate movies based on the Civil War.

When Shaara died, his son Jeff continued his legacy by publishing Gods and Generals in 1988 and The Last Full Measure in 2000. The former is a prequel to The Killer Angels, ending just before the Battle of Gettysburg. The Last Full Measure covers the last two years of the war, including Lee’s surrender. All three are written in the same style, with each chapter being told from the perspective of a different Union or Confederate commander, and all three are noted for their historical accuracy.