Entry One: Introduction

        The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara is a historical fiction novel based in the 1860's in the heat of the Civil War. The book follows many characters as the battle progresses including generals, colonels and a spy. Shaara has organized the book into four sections, and then into chapters, one for every relevant character's point of view. Although Shaara follows these characters, those chapters are not written in first person. Throughout the novel, Shaara includes several maps of the town/battlefields to further enhance the reader's understanding of the story. A little about the author: as well as writing historical fiction, he also writes science fiction and sports fiction.
      The Battle of Gettysburg was fought in July of 1863 and is often described of the turning point of the Civil War. There were about 50,000 casualties as a result of this gruesome battle. General Robert E. Lee led the Confederate Army while Gen. George Meade led the Union Army.
        I predict that Shaara won't have as much historical accuracy as one would like since he is writing from the perspective of spies, generals, and minor soldiers. Also I think that the author will interpret the personality and emotions differently than other historians/authors, giving you a fuller understanding of the battle.

Reading Schedule:

p. 3-96 3/4
p. 97-180 3/11
p. 181-274 3/18
p. 274-348 3/25