shopping cart
Save up to 30% on our Staff Picks
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.
Original Essays | November 5, 2009

John Buntin: IMG Notes from the (Bibliographic) Underground



For more than 60 years, Los Angeles's origins, its underbelly, and (yes) its blondes have fueled the imagination of writers and directors from... Continue »
  1. $18.20 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

The Killer Angels

by Michael Shaara

The Killer Angels Cover

Awards

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Detailing the events around four days in late June and early July, 1863, the story follows four men as they march into the field for what will become the bloodiest three days in American history. Robert E. Lee leads the Confederate troops on an invasion of Pennsylvania, believing it is the only way the South can still force Washington to accept peace, and a Southern victory. By his side, James "Pete" Longstreet does not share Lee's optimism, and understands that this great fight could be the South's Waterloo. On the Northern side, Cavalry General John Buford is the man on the spot, and heroically holds Lee's army back while the rest of the Union troops move into position on the valuable and crucial high ground of Cemetery Ridge. Leading a regiment to the far end of the line, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is told he must hold the flank, that his small command is the key to the entire Union position. Ordering his men to dig in, waiting for the inevitable assault from Longstreet's troops, the former college professor realizes that this is his destiny, commanding soldiers on a hill known as Little Round Top.

Review:

"The best Civil War novel ever written, even better than The Red Badge of Courage." Stephen B. Oates

Review:

"A compelling version of what America's Armageddon must have been like....Surefire storytelling." Publisher's Weekly

Review:

"[Shaara] writes with clarity and power....His descriptions of the battle scenes are vivid and unsparing." Newsday

Review:

"You will learn more from this utterly absorbing book about Gettysburg than from any nonfictional account. Shaara fabulously, convincingly brings characters such as Robert E. Lee to life and makes the conflict all too real." Forbes

Synopsis:

"MY FAVORITE HISTORICAL NOVEL . . . A superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant."

--James M. McPherson, Author of Battle Cry of Freedom

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fought for two dreams. One dreamed of freedom, the other of a way of life.

Far more than rifles and bullets were carried into battle. There were memories. There were promises. There was love. And far more than men fell on those Pennsylvania fields. Shattered futures, forgotten innocence, and crippled beauty were also the casualties of war.

The Killer Angels is unique, sweeping, unforgettable--a dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America's destiny.

"REMARKABLE. . . A BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE . . . I had never visited Gettysburg, knew almost nothing about that battle before I read the book, but here it all came alive."

--Ken Burns, Filmmaker, The Civil War

About the Author

Michael Shaara was born in Jersey City in 1929 and graduated from Rutgers University in 1951. His early science fiction short stories were published in Galaxy magazine in 1952. He later began writing other works of fiction and published more than seventy short stories in many magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, and Redbook. His first novel, The Broken Place, was published in 1968. But it was a simple family vacation to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in 1966 that gave him the inspiration for his greatest achievement, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Killer Angels, published in 1974. Michael Shaara went on to write two more novels, The Noah Conspiracy and For Love of the Game, which was published posthumously after his death in 1988.

From the Hardcover edition.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
terrellbuckson, January 31, 2007 (view all comments by terrellbuckson)
A soldier is a killer and an angel both. He/she fights for a reson to defend his/her country or to defend a group's ideas. Thus, he/she is seen as a hero or angel to some. He/she is also seen as a killer to others becausehe/she kills other people and kills more and more until the war is won. Thus, he/she is seen as a killer angel!!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(4 of 13 readers found this comment helpful)

Product Details

ISBN:
9780345407276
Author:
Shaara, Michael
Publisher:
Ballantine Books
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Historical
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
History
Subject:
United states
Subject:
War
Subject:
Large type books
Subject:
Historical - General
Subject:
Historical fiction
Subject:
Pennsylvania
Subject:
War stories
Subject:
Gettysburg (Pa.), Battle of, 1863 -- Fiction.
Subject:
Gettysburg
Subject:
War & Military
Subject:
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 18
Copyright:
Edition Description:
1st Ballantine Books trade ed.
Series Volume:
35
Publication Date:
May 1996
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Yes
Pages:
400
Dimensions:
8.18x5.56x.98 in. .83 lbs.

Other books you might like

  1. $4.95 Used Mass Market add to wish list

    Gods and Generals

    Jeff Shaara
  2. $7.00 Used Trade Paper add to wish list
  3. $6.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

    Gob's Grief

    Chris Adrian
  4. $4.95 Used Mass Market add to wish list

    Gods and Generals

    Jeff Shaara
  5. $6.95 Used Hardcover add to wish list
  6. $9.95 Used Trade Paper add to wish list

Related Aisles

  • back to top

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.