Summary Of The Killer Angels By Micheal Shaara

The book The Killer Angels by Micheal Shaara is about the battle of Gettysburg and attempts to convey the historical event by presenting it in a fashion that feels fictional, but is based on documents and letters that were set around that time. The book covers the event through the eyes of different confederate and union officers, and is told in such a way that you feel sympathetic to the characters because you can see their panic, and the decision making process that each officer uses. This book is separated into four sections these are; the day before, the two days of, and the day after. Each section has chapters that are written from the view of seven different characters, each character has a different importance. These characters are: The Spy, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, John Buford, James Longstreet, Robert E. Lee, Freemantle, and Lewis Armistead. Shaara selects four main people as the viewpoint characters and moves back and forth among them to progress the story.On the Confederate side he focuses on Lee and Longstreet, while on the Union side he focuses on Buford and Chamberlain.
This book does an excellent job …show more content…
Due to Buford’s noteworthy defense, by the evening of July, 1, 1863, the Union defenses were not only reinforced but very strong. Prior to this reinforcement Lee ordered Richard Ewell to attack Cemetery Hill, Ewell’s failure to take the high ground created one of the controversial “ifs” of Gettysburg that have echoed down the years. Along with Ewell’s failure, Cavalry General J.E.B. Stuart’s failure to report Union positions is often cited as a blunder to deflect blame on Lee for losing the battle. Even Longstreet, Lee’s second in command, will not be free from blame by war’s end. Even though many people defend Lee today, Shaara does not shy away from exposing Lee’s tactical blunders halting the deification process in its