Robert E. Lee has been a hero of mine since I was a small boy. With Confederate ancestors on both sides of my family, my father made sure that respect for Lee's character was instilled in my impressionable mind when I was just a lad. Growing up and playing on my father's ancestral home and land that was the site of an engagement between Federal and Confederate troops, love and respect for the gallantry of Lee came natural for me.

I began collecting quotes and anecdotes from the life of Lee many years ago and started dreaming about a book in 1999. This book is the result of that dream. The book is specifically directed to "young gentlemen," or those who aspire to be, but I believe the book can be enjoyed by everyone. It is full of some of the better quotes culled from reliabile biographies and Lee's personal letters. Some were Lee's "personal maxims" that were found after his death in a worn military satchel by CSA chaplian, William Jones. The book also contains some little known anecdotes from the life of Lee that illustrate his sterling Christian character and humility. Many that have reviewed the book have been complimentary:

"The Maxims of Robert E. Lee for Young Gentlemen is inspiring and full of anecdotes and quotes, some long forgotten, that will guide men of all ages towards the lost art of being a 'gentleman.' " ~ Joe Farah, Editor in Chief and CEO of WorldNetDaily.com.

"I can think of no better guide for young men embarking on the adventure of life than the maxims of Robert E. Lee." ~ From the Foreword by Harry W. Crocker, III, author of Lee on Leadership and Executive Editor at Regnery Publishing.

"The example of Robert E. Lee illustrates in stark colors what it means to be a man - a model essential for all of us who are products of this distinctly unmanly age. Rick Williams has placed us all in his debt with this wonderful anthology of Lee's wisdom and grace. Must reading for all fathers and sons." ~ Pastor J. Steven Wilkins, author of Call of Duty: The Sterling Nobility of Robert E. Lee.

"This riveting collection of Lee's own stirring words and personal thoughts give amplified insight into the life of a rare and much-needed role model. Imagine for a moment the impact just one hundred young men could have on our land should they develop Lee's passion for personal purity and selfless pursuit of Christian honor. My prayer is that many will read these words not as antiquated or romantic philosophy, but rather as a challenge to humbly follow - and then boldly lead." ~ James McDonald, Publisher, Homeschooling Today® Magazine

Samuel Johnson once quipped, "Any man honored by both his enemies and his compatriots is a man worthy of our closet attentions-for in him you may be sure to find authenticity. After all, authenticity is the rarest of all human traits." Of all the men who fought during the un-Civil War Between the States only R.E. Lee stands out as universally praised by both sides.

The English historian Paul Johnson had this to say about Lee: "General Lee has accomplished in both life and death what few, indeed, hardly any have ever accomplished in all of the annals of history: ubiquitous respect, renown, and acclaim."

In this concise and handy little book of Maxims, Richard Williams Jr. has provided us a window into the man who accomplished ubiquitous respect, renown, and acclaim. In a generation dearth of real heroes it is vital that we put before our children men of valor, duty, and courage. One need look no further than to the example of Robert Edward Lee to see these principles brilliantly exemplified. This is a book that can be read in one sitting, but you will not want to read it just once. If you are like myself you will use this book over and over again. My copy is already marked up and the pages ruffled from where I keep drinking from the wonderful wisdom of the man.

It's my hope that with the publication of books like this one, we may yet again see a generation of leaders who embody the principles of Robert E. Lee.

In an era where the primary role models for our children are self-absorbed entertainers, out of control professional athletes, and corrupt politicians, where does one turn to find credible examples of how to live one's life that you can point to when counciling your children? Granted, there are some fine modern role models, but they aren't usually being highlighted in the news, or being profiled on TV. However, Richard Williams, Jr. has provided us a handy book that gives us a glimpse at a role model that is timeless.

Whether one believes Robert E. Lee fought on the right side of the War Between the States or not, his life is a great example of self-sacrifice, devotion to duty and always acting in a manner so as to do the right and honorable thing. Not by today's modern selfish, materialistic standards, but by standards that were the foundation of all that is good about Western Civilization.

This book contains a treasure trove of maxims by Lee that he used to guide his own life and to influence the lives of his children as well as those who served under him in the military and were under his care while they attended Washington College (later Washington and Lee University). It is not a cumbersom tomb, but a simple, straight forward book that is broken down into sections that lend itself to being a quick reference book as well as a wonderful insight into a man whose life is truly an example to all.

If more people followed R.E. Lee's maxims, this would definitely be a better world. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to buy a special graduation gift for that special person graduating from high school or college. This is something that will last a lifetime.

"Old Devil Wind" will get very young children in the mood for Halloween night by telling them what happened "One dark and stormy night" when a Ghost began to wail. One by one other things in the house, from the stool and the broom to the door and the floor, as well as the owl and the witch outside, begin to add their own spooky sounds to the dark and stormy night. You can think of this story by Bill Martin, Jr. (author of "Brown, Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and "Happy Hippopotami") as sort of a creepy Halloween version of "Old MacDonald." Barry Root ("Pumpkins") provides the suitably eerie illustrations chronicling the growling cacophony of eerie sounds that builds to the arrival of the Old Devil Wind at the climax. "Old Devil Wind" should work well for youngsters who can still count the number of times they have gone trick or treated on the fingers of one hand (without using the thumb).

Wonderful book for story time. Easy to involve children in the excitement of the book. Lots of opportunities to involve sounds while reading at a Halloween party.

This is a simple book of Bible verses that a couple could pray for whatever they're going through in their marriage. Topics like anger, financial problems, and courage are arranged alphabetically. You can be sure that you're praying God's will when you pray His word back to Him.

This helps the reader identify specific issues that crop up in every marriage. Each chapter is titled by an emotion or a problem (Anger,Financial Problems, Patience etcetera). Scripture and verses pertinent to each chapter are written as personalized prayers. The scriptures remind me of God's perfect will for my marriage. It is a wonderful tool for enhancing any relationship and makes a lovely wedding present.

Lee's work is well written and, in some cases, provides the only description of the legion of battles and skirmishes that characterized the Southern Campaign. The reader needs to keep in mind that Lee wrote in the 18th century tradition of exagerating one's own triumphs and glossing over any shortcomings. Lee likewise writes in a seemingly authoritative manner about events where he wasn't present. For example his condemnation of the NC militia at the battle of Guilford CH has influenced most subsequent accounts although Lee wasn't aware that their orders allowed them to leave the field after delivering up two rounds. In contrast he fails to mention the flight of the Virginia militia in the right wing. Given these faults, Lee's work is still the best of it's kind. Any Rev War library should have a copy.

Anyone with a sobriquet of "Lighthorse Harry" sets up some expectations with his memoirs, but this book delivers on them. Not only does the book take you into the thick of battle in the Revolutionary War's "Southern Campaign", it also takes you to deliberations about how the Colonists reacted to British Rule and what kind of government America should have and how it should solve practical issues of the day. Henry Lee was there for all of it as one of the "Lees of Virginia". This book has a zest and pacing that gently draws the reader in for the next installment.

This is a book of photographs about Robert E. Lee, and features photos not only of Lee but of the people, places, and events that were important in his life. The book has some commentary on the photos, but the focus is the photographs, not the text. The book is designed to complement Thomas' biography of Lee. As a stand-alone book, it provides a brief overview of Lee's life.

Without a doubt I have been a diehard fan of Emory Thomas since I attended one of his guest lectures promoting the highly acclaimed biography on the man and soldier Robert E. Lee. His words on the death of LEE were most memorable.

His recent pictorial essay embodied in this new publication chroniclizes Lee throughout his lifetime in vintage photographs. When I met Lee's great grand daughter Anne Carter Zimmer, I realized that some rather poignant pictures existed, but this book supports the fact.

This book should be purchased as a bedtime companion to Thomas's brilliant biography of the icon we know as Lee. The layout and selection of photographs in this publication truly satisfy one's soul in meditative reflection. Don't miss.

I had this book when it first came out in the 1960's and I loved it. I was first getting interested in skeet shooting and was a young boy. I have re-entered the sport recently and I pulled out my old copy to refresh myelf of the fundamentals. The book was published in the mid 60's so it is dated in its rules and of course, in its photos, but the reader who loves this sport should find it all very interesting. The material it contains on fundamentals is the meat of the book. These fundamentals are critical to learn. The book presents them very well with concise descriptions of foot positions, gun point, where to break the clay target, and most importantly, what to see in your sight picture, and how large a lead to take. Braun does this on each station of the skeet field with well written descriptions, photos and diagrams as well. I highly recommend this publication, my copy had a pullout map of things to do at each station with handy pointers that will make things click for the reader who is a skeet shooter.

I just bought my second copy after losing my original 35 year old copy. Paid a premium, but it was worth every penny. Too bad this book is out of print. This book taught me how to play the game and led me to my first 25 straight. I stopped playing the game for a long time, but now that I'm coming back, I trust this book to start me out right for the 2nd time.

There are numerous reasons why this book is superb, and why it has been named as part of the curriculum at the School of Advanced Military Studies at the United Stated Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

1) The description of Lee's art of war, and the explanation of what Lee believed had to be done in order to give the Confederates the best chance to win is rooted in the lessons of the Great Captains, and has never before been presented this clearly;

2) Lee's vision of victory and how he could accomplish same through his operational objectives for the campaign, along with the military, logistical and political forces at work that combined to influence his decision to transfer the defense of Richmond out of Virginia and into the North, and how these continued to bear upon his decisions once the battle was underway, are laid out clearly;

3) The Lee-Stuart controversary is dealt with in unprecedented clarity. Bowden and Ward's presentation of the facts and analysis provides, for the first time, a clear understanding of what all the principals involved knew and understood at that time, and how Stuart, once he reached Haymarket, made a decision that violated Lee's restraining orders and resulted in him compromising his command and the trust placed in him by Lee;

4) The entire issue of how and why Lee concentrated the Confederate army in the Cashtown-Gettysburg area is explained in
detail. The timeline provided by the authors concerning when and where Lee received information, his resulting orders and more, demonstrate the continued implimentation of his operational plan and goals;

5) Thank goodness, that for the first time ever, we have two authors that have deleved into thoroughly and explained properly Lee's role in the July 1 fighting. What's more, Bowden and Ward present, for the first time, the entirety of all the issues---and there are many of them---involved with Lee's pursuit orders to Richard Ewell following the battle that day. Further, the authors demonstrate, conclusively in my military opinion, why so many past and present writers. along with so-called students of the battle, are confused over this issue. These are just some of the reasons that the chapter dealing with July 1 is impressive;

6) As impressive as the book is up to the battle of July 2, it is my belief that the best part of LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY are the two chapters that deal with Lee's initial plan of battle, and the actual fighting on July 2. In spite of all that has been previously written about Gettysburg, Bowden and Ward are the first authors I know of that PROPERLY explain Lee's initial plan of action, AND how and why it was modified to the en echelon mode of attack once the Federals realigned their positions on the South end of the field. Lee was present to scout the enemy positions, ascertain those changes, and issue a change of orders accordingly that took into consideration the new relative positions of the armies that was consistent with the best way to accomplish the mission for that day. Moreover, the description of the fighting on July 2, COUPLED WITH the explanation of how the en echelon plan of attack was being implemented and how and why it broke down and what that meant to the detriment of the Confederate cause, can only be described as just superb;

7) Lee's plans for July 3, how these had to be modified, and how the attack that did take place that afternoon did not materialize as had been planned, are covered in a succinct manner that helps the reader identify how the attack failed and the multiply people responsible for its failure (including Lee);

8) The summary of the book ("Reflections") provides additional insight (including more analysis than what has already been given) to the most important issues that contributed to Lee's defeat. It is a powerful conclusion to a hard-hitting book.

Are there any drawbacks to the book? Yes, given the reality of today's short-attention span public, and those with their minds already made up, there are. And after reading two recent so-called "reviews," I am more convinced than ever. THIS IS NOT A BOOK THAT CAN BE ABSORBED BY "BROWSING THROUGH" AT A BOOK STORE. THIS IS NOT A BOOK THAT CAN BE CLAIMED TO BE READ BUT THEN CRITICIZED IN A SPECIOUS WAY BECAUSE THE READER HAS NOT READ THE BOOK CAREFULLY ENOUGH IN ORDER TO GRASP THE TOTALITY OF THE
AUTHORS' ARGUMENTS. This does not mean that everyone who reads this book should AGREE with the authors. What this means is that there are legitimate criticisms and those which are not.

LAST CHANCE FOR VICTORY is a highly detailed book that provides in-depth analysis never before presented involving very complex historical and historigraphical issues. As such, it reveals the strengths and weaknesses of Robert E. Lee at his greatest trial by combat. The testiment to this book is in its accomplishments, which to date are:

Winner of the 2001 Douglas Southall Freeman History Award

Winner of the 2001 General N B Forrest Southern History Award

Winner of the 2001 Grady McWhiney Award of Merit

Winner of the 2002 Bonnie Blue Society Literary Award

and, arguably the most telling accomplishment, part of the curriculum at the US ARmy Command and General Staff College.

Buy the book; read and study it carefully; enjoy it.

JS

This is not just another book on Gettysburg. It is a long-overdue study of this important battle written from the point of view of what Lee and his generals knew before and during the 1863 battle. The authors care-fully craft Lee's background and his history and relationship with other leaders including Jefferson Davis and Jeb Stuart. They describe Lee's plans and the actual battle, including the failure of subordinates to effectively utilize their artillery on the disastrous last day. The authors did not base their presentation on how the battle turned out. Instead they explored the actions of the Confederates and analyzed the facts known to Lee, Stuart, and the others to determine the basis for decisions and courses taken. In doing so, Bowden and Ward reach conclusions drastically different than those of many other historians, showing that many of the popular myths about the battle are indeed false. By using Stuart's initial troop movements while Lee was moving north, they show that Stuart did indeed have orders to move north rather than take his wayward ride around the Union forces. They show that Lee's orders to Richard Ewell to take Cemetery Hill were not discretionary. They not only look at actions taken; they also examine options not taken. Lee's generalship in this battle is shown to be much better than often credited to him. The arguments of many of Lee's critics are addressed and refuted in detail. Even a reader with great knowledge of this battle will benefit from this book. It is a "Must Read" for every student of the War.

This is a well-researched and fresh look at the Battle of Gettysburg. Having read more than 20 books on Gettysburg and countless others on the Civil War, I thought that I knew all there is to know about the epic three day battle.

Bowden and Ward pleasantly surprised me with their fresh analysis of this battle and Lee's generalship. They look at the battle from a different perspective. In the process, they shatter (conclusively in my humble opinion) many of the traditions that have grown out of the battle.

The tour de force of the book, in my opinion, is the chapter on Day Two. The authors' conclusions are compelling and thought-provoking.

While it's a cliche, it's true: once you read this book, you will never think about the Battle of Gettysburg the same.

In addition to being thought-provoking and compelling, the book is also an excellent read -- dare I say a page turner!

Every serious student of the Civil War and military history should read this book.

It is also very approachable for those not entirely familiar with all the nuances of Gettysburg and the Civil War.

I read Donald McCaig's wonderful new book two months ago and waited for the rest of the world to discover it too. What gives? Here is a complex, seamless and beautifully written book that neither glosses over the social inequities of the time nor attempts to judge 19th century thoughts and actions with a 20th-century hoity-toity political correctness. Not only that, it's a heck of a story. Anyone who likes a good read should like this book. Anyone who's interested in the Civil War and wants a heart-in-your-throat, immediate sense of the horrific Virginia battles should like this book. Don't get me wrong, I loved "Cold Mountain." But it mainly a love story, with nature as a subplot and the Civil War only as a backdrop. "Jacob's Ladder" is mainly about the war, as seen through the eyes of some endearing and deftly drawn characters. Why is this book missing the public bandwagon? I'm glad I sneaked into the select group who heard about it early and read it right away.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jacob's Ladder. The characters are very real and engaging, and the historical references - battles and home life - make you feel as if you are right there as they take place.

If you like this book, you may also like Stonewall Jackson's Gold (sort of a Civil War Treasure Island, but a true story) and On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon (a postwar fictional memoir of a woman who lived a very interesting life during the war).

For my money, "Jacob's Ladder" should stand near the top of any short list of the finest Civil War fiction and certainly stands head and shoulders above recent Civil War novels from Shaara, Frazier, Bahr, et al. I was absorbed by every one of its many pages and found the novel unfailingly believable, whether it documented the cruelities and hypocrisies of slavery, the lavish lifestyles of the blockade runners, or the hardships of everyday civilians and soldiers in Civil War Virginia.

Here are partisans--an increasingly popular and overblown subject of Civil War fiction--that are credible in their frightening amorality, and common soldiers of the Confederacy who emerge as truly heroic in their quotidian battle to survive the horrors of war. In fact, McCaig's dry-eyed and lifelike character protrayals are the greatest achievement of "Jacob's Ladder," or would be if his retelling of the last battles of the Army of Northern Virginia weren't such a tour de force--and so deeply affecting. At any rate, here is an author who is just as gifted at creating characters as he is at recreating war and its many terrors.

I wholeheartedly recommend this epic treatment to lovers of American history and to all lovers of a good tale. I do have one niggling question, however: Why did the publisher choose to place a detail from the famous diorama treatment of the Battle of Atlanta on the cover of this novel so intimately connected to the battles for Petersburg and Richmond?

I first read Moby Dick; or The Whale over thirty years ago and I didn't understand it. I thought I was reading a sea adventure, like Westward Ho! or Poe's Arthur Gordon Pym. In fact, it did start out like an adventure story but after twenty chapters or so, things began to get strange. I knew I was in deep water. It was rough, it seemed disjointed, there were lengthy passages that seemed like interruptions to the story, the language was odd and difficult, and often it was just downright bizarre. I plodded through it, some of it I liked, but I believe I was glad when it ended. I knew I was missing something and I understood that it was in me! It wasn't the book; it was manifestly a great book, but I hadn't the knowledge of literature or experience to understand it.

I read it again a few years later. I don't remember what I thought of it. The third time I read it, it was hilarious; parts of it made me laugh out loud! I was amazed at all the puns Melville used, and the crazy characters, and quirky dialog. The fourth or fifth reading, it was finally that adventure story I wanted in the first place. I've read Moby Dick more times than I've counted, more often than any other book. At some point I began to get the symbolism. Somewhere along the line I could see the structure. It's been funny, awesome, exciting, weird, religious, overwhelming and inspiring. It's made my hair stand on end...

Now, when I get near the end I slow down. I go back and reread the chapters about killing the whale, and cutting him up, and boiling him down. Or about the right whale's head versus the sperm whale's. I want to get to The Chase but I want to put it off. I draw Queequeg with his tattoos in the oval of a dollar bill. I take a flask with Starbuck and a Decanter with Flask. Listen to The Symphony and smell The Try-Works. Stubb's Supper on The Cabin Table is a noble dish, but what is a Gam? Heads or Tails, it's a Leg and Arm. I get my Bible and read about Rachel and Jonah. Ahab would Delight in that; he's a wonderful old man. For a Doubloon he'd play King Lear! What if Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of The Whale? Would Fedallah blind Ishmael with a harpoon, or would The Pequod weave flowers in The Virgin's hair?

Now I know. To say you understand Moby Dick is a lie. It is not a plain thing, but one of the knottiest of all. No one understands it. The best you can hope to do is come to terms with it. Grapple with it. Read it and read it and study the literature around it. Melville didn't understand it. He set out to write another didactic adventure/travelogue with some satire thrown in. He needed another success like Typee or Omoo. He needed some money. He wrote for five or six months and had it nearly finished. And then things began to get strange. A fire deep inside fret his mind like some cosmic boil and came to a head bursting words on the page like splashes of burning metal. He worked with the point of red-hot harpoon and spent a year forging his curious adventure into a bloody ride to hell and back. "...what in the world is equal to it?"

Moby Dick is a masterpiece of literature, the great American novel. Nothing else Melville wrote is even in the water with it, but Steinbeck can't touch it, and no giant's shoulders would let Faulkner wade near it. Melville, The pale Usher, warned the timid: "...don't you read it, ...it is by no means the sort of book for you. ...It is... of the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hausers. A Polar wind blows through it, & birds of prey hover over it. Warn all gentle fastidious people from so much as peeping into the book..." But I say if you've never read it, read it now. If you've read it before, read it again. Think Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Goethe, and The Bible. If you understand it, think again.

It's always dangerous to label a book as a "masterpiece": that word seems to scare away most readers and distances everyone from the substance of the book itself. Still, I'm going to say that this is the Greatest American Novel because I really think that it is--after having read it myself.

Honestly, Moby Dick IS long and looping, shooting off in random digressions as Ishmael waxes philosophical or explains a whale's anatomy or gives the ingredients for Nantucket clam chowder--and that's exactly what I love about it. This is not a neat novel: Melville refused to conform to anyone else's conventions. There is so much in Moby Dick that you can enjoy it on so many completely different levels: you can read it as a Biblical-Shakespearean-level epic tragedy, as a canonical part of 19th Century philosophy, as a gothic whaling adventure story, or almost anything else. Look at all the lowbrow humor. And I'm sorry, but Ishmael is simply one of the most likable and engaging narrators of all time.

A lot of academics love Moby Dick because academics tend to have good taste in literature. But the book itself takes you about as far from academia as any book written--as Ishmael himself says, "A whale-ship was my Yale College and my Harvard." Take that advice and forget what others say about it, and just experience Moby Dick for yourself.

Why review Moby Dick? Hasn't enough been said?

If you've not read this novel yet, then obviously not. Don't miss it.

The average reader today will be put off by what seems to be a laborious 19th Century style. Long words are assembled into long sentences, there's not always a lot of dialogue, and not a single glib pop culture reference. Surely a dated work.

Here are a few secrets -- you won't find these heavily discussed -- to help you read this novel:

1) It's the first modernist work. Yes, though it looks old-fashioned, "Moby Dick" is anything but. The whole novel is conscious of the fact that it's a novel -- Melville assembles bits of other works (real or imagined) and plays with form in a way we normally think of as the contribution of later writers.

2) It's got rhythm. The book moves from action piece to digression back to action in a regular pattern. The tempo of the novel itself suggests the motion of a ship on the sea. So when you're reading one of the long digressive passages, remember that it's just there to rest you up.

3) It's funny. Why doesn't anyone mention this? It's true the book concerns some serious themes -- it's not just a whaling novel -- but Melville has a sense of humor. The whole of the novel is over the top with solemnity and scholarliness. If you think he's entirely serious, you're being far too literal minded.

So take your time, don't be put off. Melville has an odd style, but once you recognize that it's deliberate, you'll see he has a sense of playfulness. Enjoy.

Gods and Generals, written by Jeff Shaara, is an amazing Civil War novel that combines fictitious and non-fictitious characters with plot to make a deeply intriguing book. Also, it is a much easier read than other history books, which are filled page after page with dry facts and no storyline. Because Jeff Shaara added a fictional plot and a captivating story, I truly read the novel, instead of just looking at a continuous mound of monotonous information.

Gods and Generals describes the Civil War through the eyes of Winfield S. Hancock and Joshua Chamberlain: two Northerners. It also tells about Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson: two Southerners. The novel gives a very different perspective of the war, especially from the Southern aspect. When Shaara explains why people in the south were joining the army, he says they were not necessarily trying to save slavery, but trying to preserve a way of life. They had never really known a life without slavery, and the majority of Southerners were not ready or open to the idea of change. This perspective of the War really gave me a less biased view of the conflict and the reasons for it. Not all Southerners were evil slave owners and not all Northerners had a burning desire to abolish slavery.

This novel also goes into great description about the many essential battles that took place in the North and the South, and their effects. Something that was a real eye-opener was how horrifying the battles were, and the great number of mistakes that were made even by the most experienced commanding generals. In addition, I was appalled by the [people] that were hastily put in command of an entire army, and the terrible positions they put themselves in.

Shaara perfectly describes the War in an unbiased manner and goes into great detail about the four men and the challenges they dealt with on and off the battlefield. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with the slightest interest in America's history. Gods and Generals is the most vivid and well-written historical novel I have read.

I have recently read Gods and Generals by extremely talented Jeff M. Shaara. The focus of this book is on the civil war, and accurately shows the interpretation of the war of both sides.
The way Jeff Shaara develops his characters never ceases to amaze me. He is so talented that he makes it so you can so it seems like you can see into the mind of the characters, which is very difficult when writing a history novel. Being able to see into the minds of the characters allows you to understand their decisions and to see where they are coming from when they make statements that would normally confuse the reader. This ability also allows you to see the differing views of the north and the south, you can see the war through their eyes.
In comparison to other books I have read by Jeff Shaara, Gods and Generals has got to be the best. He just seems to have put all that was in him into writing this truly amazing history novel, and it showed.
This is a great book by a very talented author, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested.

Michael Shaara may not be as good a writer as father, but he surely comes close to it in his prequel to his father's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Killer Angels. In Gods and Generals, Michael Shaara explores the lives of Generals Lee, Hancock, Jackson and Chamberlain. It delves into their thoughts, actions, remembrances leading up to the battle at Gettysburg. He shows them as people not as unknown figures talked about in boring history classes. People who had feelings, yearnings, and fear.

One does not need to be a Civil War buff to thoroughly enjoy this book. It could have been longer because so many battles are included, but then this may have made the book tedious to read.

The movie comes out in 2003. If it is as good as the book, it will be a winner.