The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Last Full Measure
Book Review: Fills his father's shoes
Summary: 5 Stars
Of course Jeff Shaara has big shoes to fill and I am sure is often judged on is father's success, but he would definitely make his father proud with this book. You can feel the war and get a deeper understanding of the people who took part in it. Rather than just names in a history book, you feel like you know them.
For similar historical fiction, but with a dash of romance, I would recommend Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia.
Book Review: Fooled by Random House
Summary: 1 Stars
Reader, look alert! A chance visit to Harper's Ferry, a rush of patriotic feeling, a recollection of the father's Pulitzer Prize, occasioned the purchase of this mass market paperback. Don't you make my mistake. The writing is at best pedestrian, at worse ... well it gets worse. Want to know what happened post-Gettysburg? Buy the Battle Cry of Freedom. Want to know that every single character in Shaara Junior's book needs alka-seltzer? Then buy this book. Oops, I've already let you in on this secret, so again, don't bother.
Shaara leads us through several years of the great Civil War, pretending, page after page, that he knows what his actors are thinking. He neither does nor can he, with his leaden prose, convince you that he does. The result is a trivialization of not just the conflict, but of the humanity of his characters: they become a johnny one note: religious, love their wives, angry, sad, wish to preserve the Union ... or not. After 50 pages of this you stop caring. But the war went on and on, so this volume goes on for 550 more. More is not better. More is just more.
It is said that war is hell, it is said that so is boredom, so was the Last Full Measure. This book will lead you to the sort of bloated feeling that is brought on by long airplane flights, high-caloric meals, and poor writing. Don't make my mistake, which could only be cured by the application of cold compresses, and the writings of Thornton Wilder.
Lastly, I take issue with the publisher. Trickster! Nowhere in this edition, which I blithely plucked off the point of sale shelf, is it stated that it is not written by the Pulitzer Prize winner. Having read Michael S.'s Killer Angels with enjoyment some years ago, I was completely perplexed. I finally came to the conclusion that Shaara Senior had punched above his weight with that book, and had returned to normal humanity with this one. Imagine my chagrin, after having plowed and plodded to the Court House (only 40 pages left, by then I was feeling as bedraggled as a Confederate veteran) when a chance remark by a brother led me to discover the shocking secret that these books weren't written by the same person. Random House, sensing a commercial opportunity, coyly lulls you into believing that one and the same writer penned both books. It is not so. They, and Shaara junior, merely attempted to build a franchise, and, clearly, at the expense of good writing (could this book have been written by a committee? I at times wondered), they have succeeded.
Book Review: Gentlemen Warriors
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a wonderful read. I learned so much about the Civil War conclusion, until I read this book I could appreciate the real situation of General Lee's army, I always thought he surrendered because of a political compromise and to avoid further useless bloodshed but I realized he really had no choice as his army was practically anihilated in the battles of march -april 1865.
I learned also the ruthless pursuit of victory of the Union armies under Grant, that ultimately decided the issue. Grant really pushed through no matter casualties or personal reputation, ultimately puting an end to the war and to further killing.
Lee was portrayed as a real gentleman at arms, almost as a knight of old, personally I would have followed him, his tactics sometimes were flawed or his secondary commanders did not deliver but he was the real spirit of the Conferderate Army. It was very sad to read of the destitution of his army, no food, no uniforms, but great spirit. In the end they gave it all for Lee but were swallowed by the industrial might of the North.
I liked the portrayal of Chamberlain, also a gentleman soldier, very chivalrous at the end.
This book really touched me, it was not a dry account of battles or meaningless action but the story of real men, desires fears, the grandious and the horror of fratricidal war. The vision Lee has of himself charging ahead of his troops at the moment of his death will always saty with me. Wonderful imaginery.
Book Review: Good end to the series
Summary: 5 Stars
For anybody who has read the first two books in this series this book wraps up the series beautifully. While this book does stand on its own and you do not have to read the previous two, I highly reccomend it. The battle scenes are well illustrated by the author as well as the horror lee must have felt of not being able to feed his troops. I think the best thing in this book is the choice the author made on the characters to center them on: Lee, Grant and Chamberlin. I highly reccomend this book as well as the whole series (Gods and Generals, The Killer Angels & The Last Full Measure) to anybody even if you are not a huge fan of historical fiction.Book Review: Got it Wrong
Summary: 2 Stars
Among the Civil War generals you find the most overrated general in American history--Robert E Lee and the most underrated--U S Grant. And here Shaara falls into the same rut of idolizing Lee and dumbing down Grant. A great injustice has be done to Grant through large swaths of American history and Shaara ham-handed treatment of Grant in this novel is more of the same. For a fuller and more accurate portrayal of Grant (non-fiction) try Jean Edward Smith's Grant.