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The Killer Angels

The Killer Angels (1974) is a historical novel by Michael Shaara which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. The book tells the story of four days of the Battle of Gettysburg in the U.S. Civil War: June 29, as the troops of both the Union and the Confederacy move into battle around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and July 1, July 2, and July 3, when the battle was fought. Each day is told from the perspective of the commanders of both armies: Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet for the Confederacy, and Joshua Chamberlain and John Buford for the Union, with each chapter describing the emotion-laden decision of these officers as they went into battle. Maps depicting the positioning of the troops as they advanced add to the sense of authenticity as decisions are made to advance and retreat with the armies. Through their voices, the author succeeds in conveying not only the excitement and horror of the largest battle in the history of North America, but also the causes of the Civil War and the motivations that led old friends to face each other on the battlefield.

The book, which sometimes compared to Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage for its depiction of the war, was inspired by a family vacation that Shaara took to the site of the battle in 1966. Shaara's son Jeffrey Shaara expanded the story by adding a prequel, Gods and Generals and a sequel, The Last Full Measure.

The Killer Angels has also been made into a movie, Gettysburg. (See Gettysburg (movie))

Preceded by:
no award given
(1974)
Pulitzer Prize Winners for Fiction Succeeded by:
Humboldt's Gift
by Saul Bellow
(1976 winner)
Last updated: 05-08-2005 02:47:02
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04