
Since it was first published in 1974, "The Killer Angels" has become the most beloved, widely-read Civil War novel of the post-World War II era. Shaara's unforgettable novel served as the basis for the acclaimed feature film Gettysburg, has sold millions of copies, and inspired the bestselling Civil War novels Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure by his son, Jeff Shaara. After more than a quarter of a century and three million copies in print, Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War classic, The Killer Angels, remains as vivid and powerful as the day it was originally published. This handsome new hardcover edition introduces a whole new generation to Shaara's masterpiece-and offers readers everywhere a literary keepsake for years to come. July 1863. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia is invading the North. General Robert E. Lee has made this daring and massive move with seventy thousand men in a determined effort to draw out the Union Army of the Potomac and mortally wound it. His right hand is General James Longstreet, a brooding man who is loyal to Lee but stubbornly argues against his plan. Opposing them is an unknown factor: General George Meade, who has taken command of the Army only two days before what will be perhaps the crucial battle of the Civil War. In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation's history, two armies fight for two conflicting dreams. One dreams of freedom, the other of a way of life. More than rifles and bullets are carried into battle. The soldiers carry memories. Promises. Love. And more than men fall on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty are also the casualties of war. The Killer Angels is unique, sweeping, unforgettable dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America's destiny. Now the most moving novel about war to be published in our time is available again in hardcover, with an elegant new package, to be sold alongside Jeff Shaara's new novel of the American Revolution, Rise to Rebellion
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1928–1988
Michael Shaara (June 23, 1928 – May 5, 1988) was an American author of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to an Italian immigrant father (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra, which in Italian is pronounced in a similar way) in Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated in 1951 from Rutgers University, where he joined Theta Chi, and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne Division prior to the Korean War. Before Shaara began selling science fiction stories to fiction magazines during the 1950s, he was an amateur boxer and police officer. He later taught literature at Florida State University while continuing to write fiction. The stress of this and his cigarette smoking caused him, at the early age of 36, to have a heart attack, from which he recovered completely. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. Shaara died of a heart attack in 1988 aged fifty-nine. Shaara's children, Jeffrey and Lila, are also novelists. In 1997, Jeffrey Shaara established the annual *Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction*, awarded at Gettysburg College. **Source**: [Michael Shaara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Shaara) on Wikipedia.
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