Fabulous insight into the military mind, the minds of men, the minds of people dedicated to a cause greater than themselves. Michael Shaara gives us a dozen characters worth caring about from both armies, and then plunges them into one of the most terrible things in America's history the "Battle of Gettysburg"The book is a great depiction on the American Civil War. The book is repulsing, the massive slaughter of "Americans by Americans" over human slavery. There was also a highly accurate portrayal of the action, and the command challenges at Gettysburg. "This is the story of the battle of Gettysburg, told from the viewpoints of Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet and some of the other men who fought there. … I have not consciously changed any fact."[pg.xiii]Historical and military authors often find it tempting to display their research and learning ability by filling each paragraph with mindless babble. Michael Shaara tells the story with vivid emotions. He makes the reader feel like they were there in the camps, under the artillery, behind the stone wall, marched, bled, and prayed that Lee would not order the charge. Michael Shaara takes you there, as soldiers saw the war and army life. He showed the true sorrow and terror. "Yet you learn to love it. Isn't that amazing? Long marches and no rest., up very early in the morning, and asleep late in the rain, and there's a marvelous excitement to it, a joy to wake in the morning, and feel the army all around you and see the campfires in the morning and smell the coffee…"[pg.125] Leadership in those days, was all about character, and conducting your self as a gentlemen. Shaara wrote of Gen. Armistead, "He was one of the men who would hold ground if it could be held; he would die for a word. He was a man to depend on, and there was this truth about war to taught you the men you could depend on."[pg.67] Other aspects of war are not so clear, such as the reason for t...
