Gods and Generals A Novel of the Civil War by: Jeff Shaara Ballantine Books 1996, 499 pages ISBN 0-345-40492-0

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In his first novel, Jeff Shaara, Michael's son, has continued the wonderful and insightful story telling that made his father's novel a classic. Gods and Generals is a story of the decade preceding the battle at Gettysburg. Like his father, Jeff, not only writes about the battles and the events surrounding the war, he relays his impressions on the thoughts and feelings of the men involved. This type of creative insight allows you to engulf yourself more into the time and situations of the people of this era. This approach also opens the subject up to a much wider audience who may find the study of history dry and mundane. Adding the creative "feelings" to these characters of history makes them come alive to the reader. Jeff Shaara has taken great care and skill to make certain that the creativity of the conversations and thoughts do not step on the truths of history. Mr. Shaara has spent hours conducting research for this novel and his efforts are evident in all aspects of the novel. The novel follows the lives of four of the Civil War's most influential and colorful men, Robert E. Lee, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and Winfield Scott Hancock. The one aspect of this novel that I found even more enlightening than The Killer Angels was that it delves more into all aspects of these men's lives. Because Gods and Generals covers an entire decade of time, it allows Jeff Shaara to have the freedom to relay many personal aspects of the family lives of these men. This is an approach that his father was not able to take.

This book is a must read for anyone who loved The Killer Angels or the movie, Gettysburg. This novel is a respectable addition to that line of Civil War materials. I hope that Mr. Shaara continues the path that his father had first laid o ut and writes another novel to add to this collection.