My Dad brought me this book several years ago. He said that my Uncle Tommy had read it and was amazed how good it was. Dad took a turn and also raved about the book. For some reason, I have been in a Civil War lull for several years. Because of this, I just put the book on a book shelf and ignoring it for a long time.
While teaching my APUSH class this year, for some reason, I began to feel the fire for the Civil War again. The topics I was teaching and the research I was doing was sparking my interest once again in the 'war between the states'. I went to my book shelf and looked at several Civil War books. The last book I saw was God's and Generals that Dad had brought over.
I grabbed the book and decided to give a chapter a try. I'm not sure I made it a chapter before I was hooked.
The author Jeff Shaara brought the story of the Civil War to life. The story is told as a novel. The facts in the book are historically accurate and put you directly in the mind of everyone involved. Each chapter is dedicated to a soldier such as Lee, Jackson, Hancock and others. The chapters beautifully tell the story.
The book starts before the war and the tell of the decisions that many of these men had to make. It is crazy to think about how tough it would be to decide to fight for your country or your state. To fight against your family and your friends. I think this is what grabbed my attention and kept me in this book.
This is an amazing book. I recommend it to anyone. I remember seeing the movie years ago and I can't wait to reinforce the book by watching the movie again.
