The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (1993, Paperback, Reprint)

Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel "The Killer Angels" provides more details about the Battle of Gettysburg than any piece of academic nonfiction. His account of the "High Water Mark" of the Civil War features deft characterizations, including Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, and George Pickett as well as Union Generals Buford, and Hancock. Shaara successfully presents various perspectives of the three-day battle by using his characters' voices.

The most compelling figure in the book is Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, whose 20th Maine regiment held the Union's left flank on the second day of the battle. The unit's bravery at Little Round Top helped turn the tide of the second day and set the stage for the third day's confrontation at the Angle, during Pickett's Charge.

"The Killer Angels" includes numerous maps, which convey a complete sense of what happened at Gettysburg, during July 1-3, 1863. Michael Shaara's ability to convey the thoughts of men in battle- especially their confusion, the "fog of battle"- is positively breath-taking. Reading history is rarely so informative, or as entertaining, as in this book. Anyone who has been to the Gettysburg battlefield will appreciate Shaara's ability to bring the battlefield to life.