Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.15 You Save: $3.84 (48%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Gods and Generals
Book Review: A balanced and insightful novel of the early Civil War.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a superb novel of the early Civil War. Jeff Shaara uses the same format that his father used in the great novel "The Killer Angels" (the story of the Battle of Gettysburg) to tell the story of the early Civil War days. Shaara's novel shows us the war as seen through the eyes of Winfield S. Hancock, Joshua Chamberlain, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson. The format works. This is a tremendously entertaining novel and fabulously educational to boot. I truly felt after reading the novel that I understood what it was like in those early frenetic days, as the country and the US Army split, with people choosing sides, North and South, for the coming conflict. What an incredible and sad time that must have been!The novel is less pro-Southern than the movie "Gods and Generals" and unlike the movie, the novel does not drag, and the storyline moves along briskly, holding the reader's interest at all times. I felt that Shaara presented a balanced view of the two sides. The South was motivated by a love of, and loyalty to, home and hearth much more that it was motivated by slavery, although I personally believe that slavery was beyond any doubt the root cause of the war. (This does not mean that slavery is what motivated the people of the South to fight.) The North, of course, was fighting to preserve the American union as one indivisible nation as Northerners believed that the Founding Fathers intended for it to be. These were great and stirring causes, which Shaara brings out beautifully, and it took a great war to resolve their inconsistencies. This book goes far in explaining and telling how it must have been to be a soldier or politician in that pivotal time.
"Gods and Generals" is a worthy prequel to the bestselling "The Killer Angels" and any Civil War buff will want to read it several times. This is a deep and detailed book and in my opinion to fully appreciate it most readers will probably read it more than once. I did, and it was time well spent.
Book Review: A brillianly crafted novel of the saddest of times.
Summary: 4 Stars
I couldn't put it down. A truely, saddening novel of the men who acted out one of our nation's lowest and heartbraking times. The characters are convincingly real. The situations are portrayed in heartbraking fashion. Not a single detail is missed, Shaara has written a very good novel.Book Review: A disappointment
Summary: 2 Stars
This is the first historical novel on the Civil War I have read, mainly because I am interested in American history as an immigrant. I am greatly disappointed with the writing style, which is choppy and displays repetitive, somehow irritating habits of punctuation, such as ... and the use of the phrase "and saw:" whenever the writer wants to present a supposedly dramatic object. I am halfway through the book, and I agree with the other reviewers who say that one character may be confused with another. I found myself constantly referring to the prologue to get my bearings on who was being discussed and on which side he was (Union or Confederacy). I am only halfway through the book, and I had to read some customer reviews to assure myself that I am not the only one confused and disappointed with this book. The stories of each main character are potentially interesting, especially their family lives, but they all seem to be one and the same man - the characters are not at all memorable. I rarely leave a book unfinished, but I will just have to put this one down and look for a better one. I like historical novels because it makes history interesting and easier to learn, especially now that I am no longer a student of history and read for pleasure. However this one does not live up to my expectations. The overall average is 4 stars for this book, and I am wondering if it is because most of the reviewers are already well-informed about the Civil War, and it is easier for them to recognize characters and put them in perspective on the merits of their (the readers') previous knowledge. But for a neophyte on the Civil War like myself, I find this book in need of much editing. Maybe the author is a better technical writer than a novelist.Book Review: A fine novel.
Summary: 4 Stars
For some reason I've read nothing but war novels this summer; Gods and Generals, The Triumph and the Glory, and Cold Mountain. Gods and Generals is a great Civil War novel, Jeff Shaara has made those epic days come to life in the pages of his wonderful novel.Book Review: A good historical novel--moving, accurate, and well-written
Summary: 4 Stars
This a good historical novel--moving, accurate, and well-written. Although Jeff Shaara did not produce the masterpiece that his father, Michael, did with The Killer Angels, he did create a fine prequel to his dad's book on the Battle of Gettysburg. He even took the title of his book from a phrase in Killer, uttered by Joshua Chamberlain.
Gods and Generals covers the lead-up to the American Civil War, and the war itself, from 1858 to 1863 (as Robert E. Lee's army moves up into Pennsylvania). Like all the Shaara novels, it focuses on a few primary leaders--in this case, Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Winfield Scott Hancock, and Chamberlain. The author tries to get inside the men's heads, giving us a fairly good idea of their characters. For example, Jackson and Lee continually talk and think about the will of God, and seizing opportunities presented to them by the Union commanders; Hancock about the incompetent generals above him; and Chamberlain about leadership and honor. Shaara also gives us a good picture of the strategy and tactics of many of the battles in this period, including both battles at Manassas, and those at Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville (with helpful maps provided). I also liked the way the book starts, with Hancock, Lewis Armistead, and others in the Federal Army in California, faced with the decision to stay with the Union or resign and fight for the South.
I would have preferred more on James Longstreet, considering his key role in the Southern military leadership, but what was provided about him was interesting and informative. I also wished there had been more written about some of the other important battles, such as Antietam (a horrific disaster for the North). Of course, Jeff Shaara had to cover a lot more in his book than did his father in his, which was about only one battle.
Overall, Gods and Generals is a good account of key figures and battles of the war, as well as some of the emotions of the period.