The book is divided into four major sections: Monday, J(which actually covers events up to dawn of Wednesday, July 1) Wednesday, July 1, 1863: The First Day Thursday, July 2, 1863: The Second Day and Friday, Jplus a foreword describing the two armies that will meet at Gettysburg and some of the key individuals who will be dealt with in The Killer Angels, and an afterword that summarizes the lives of some of the survivors of Gettysburg. One of Chamberlain’s men, Theodore Gerrish, described the fight: "Our regiment mustered about 350 men….Imagine, if you can, 300 men on the extreme flank of an army, put there to hold the key of the entire position! Stand firm, ye boys of Maine, for not once in a century are men permitted to bear such responsibilities!" Oates recalled the bravery and skill of the 20th Maine and Colonel Joshua L. In The American Iliad, Confederated Colonel William C. Readers who are not Civil War buffs might be amazed that, for example, the colorful last-ditch bayonet charge by the 20th Maine Regiment at Little Round Top–which reads like a scriptwriter’s dream–actually took place. Though the author claims some poetic license in the language the soldiers use, and though he asserts that "the interpretation of character is my own," no one could refute Shaara’s adherence to the basic facts. Rather than inventing characters through which to illumine his own perspective of the event, he attempts to recreate events during and leading up to the battle and to reconstruct the actions of several generals who participated.Īcclaim and a Pulitzer Prize followed publication of the book in 1974, yet the book had its critics–some who wished the author had employed more imagination in the plot and characters instead of sticking so religiously to the moment-by-moment occurrences while others would have preferred not to see the history tainted at all by fiction-writing techniques. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara recapitulates the Battle of Gettysburg. Teachers: If you’d like a printable version of this guide, click on the PDF link at the bottom of this page.
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