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''The Killer Angels'' (, 1863 , as the troops of both the Union and the Confederacy move into battle around the town of Gettysburg , Pennsylvania , and July 1 , July 2 , and July 3 , when the battle was fought. LAYOUT OF THE BOOK Beginning with the famous section about Longstreet's spy Harrison gathering information from about the movements and positions of the Federals, each day is told primarily from the perspectives of commanders from the two armies, including Robert E. Lee and James Longstreet for the Confederacy, and Joshua Chamberlain and John Buford for the Union. Most chapters describe the emotion-laden decisions of these officers as they went into battle. Map s depicting the positioning of the troops as they went to battle, as they advanced, add to the sense of authenticity as decisions are made to advance and retreat with the armies. Through their voices, the author succeeds in conveying not only the excitement and horror of the largest battle in the history of North America , but also the Causes Of The Civil War and the motivations that led old friends to face each other on the battlefield. COMPARISON The novel is sometimes compared to Stephen Crane 's '' The Red Badge Of Courage '' for its depiction of the war, but Shaara emphasizes the decisions, motivations, and actions of General s and Colonel s in the battle more than the common soldiers. Shaara explained that he was aiming to produce an epic military study modeled after William Shakespeare 's Henry V . His choice for a specific subject was inspired by a family vacation that Shaara took to the site of the battle in 1966 . Shaara's son Jeffrey Shaara expanded the story by adding a prequel, '' Gods And Generals '' and a sequel, '' The Last Full Measure ''. CHARACTERS
Observing the Confederacy, Arthur Fremantle . FILM ''The Killer Angels'' was a source for the screenplay for the 1993 movie, ''Gettysburg''. (See Gettysburg (movie) .) PUBLICATION Publication of ''The Killer Angels'' and release of the movie have had two significant influences on modern perceptions of the Civil War. First, the actions of Chamberlain and the rank the 20th Maine monument as their most important stop. Second, since Shaara used the memoirs of General James Longstreet as a prime source for his history, the book has renewed the modern re-evaluation of Longstreet's reputation, damaged since the 1870s by the Lost Cause writers, such as Jubal A. Early . CRITICAL RESPONSE General H. Norman Schwarzkopf described ''The Killer Angels'' as "the best and most realistic historical novel about war that I have ever read." The filmmaker Ken Burns has mentioned the influence of the book in developing his interest in the Civil War and his subsequent production of the PBS series on the subject. The book has also been cited by Joss Whedon as the original inspiration for his science fiction/Western hybrid series '' Firefly ''. TRIVIA
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