The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

5/5 rating.

Read January 24, 2019

The Killer Angels is an amazingly written book that I rated as 5/5. This is a must-read for all history buffs, but I also think it would be enlightening to everyone else, too. The horrors of war are shown throughout the book as Gettysburg is discussed through some of the key players on both sides of the American Civil War.

This book is historical fiction, so be aware that the conversations, as well as some of the action is either not known to be accurate, or has been changed to help the plot devices. While this is true, The Killer Angels does a beautiful job of explaining the motives behind each side.

As Tom Chamberlain says in the book, “If it weren’t for the slaves, there’d never have been no war, now would there?” He is completely correct, as it pushed many Northerners into the final straw, but this was not the only reason for the war. The Killer Angels puts forth the differing opinions on the two sides. This can be illuminating for those who might think that this was the largest contributing factor for the Confederacy. While this certainly does not take away from the inhumanity of the evil institution of slavery, it sheds light on the views of the majority of the people in the South.

The Civil War (an interesting moniker for such a bloody, long war among the United States) combined one of the darkest times with some of the most hopeful in America. Reason won over, with a lot of help from the soldiers of the North, and changed our future forever. The Killer Angels illuminates some of this process and is absolutely worth the read!

(If you are interested in buying this book, just go to the linked book link above and buy it off of Amazon…if not, check out your local library, they probably have it and will save you the extra cost of buying it. Enjoy!)