Book Review – Jeff Shaara’s “Gods and Generals”
The American Civil War (also known as the War Between the States) was a critical turning point in the history of our country.
It was a bloody series of battles that spanned four devastating years from 1861 to 1865, killing around 750,000 soldiers total and wounding hundreds of thousands more.
We know the outcomes of the battles. We know which side ultimately won the war. But what were the generals, the leaders of the soldiers in the army, thinking during those troubling times and horrific battles? What were their strategies? What was their point-of-view when leading the soldiers into the heart of battle?
Those questions and more are answered in Jeff Shaara’s historical novel, Gods and Generals. First published in 1996 and a prequel to the award winning book, The Killer Angels, Gods and Generals takes us from a brief period of time before the war through the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863.
Gods and Generals follows the events of the early stages of the Civil War from primarily four leading figures: General Robert E. Lee, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, General Winfield Scott Hancock and Lieutenant Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. We learn about their days before the war and then their thoughts and actions on and off the infamous battlefields.
When reading Gods and Generals, it’s important that this is not a straight up history book about the American Civil War. This is primarily about the four leaders listed above and their thoughts and actions during certain parts of the war, all of which occur in the eastern theater. For example, don’t expect to read much about the events at Fort Sumpter in Charleston, South Carolina or First Manassas (First Battle of Bull Run). We mainly read about the results of First Manassas and Confederacy’s (mainly General Johnston) failure to defeat the fleeing Union troops and capture a virtually defenseless Washington, D.C.
Gods and Generals goes into detail during the Peninsula Campaign and Seven Days Battles in 1862, and then into some detail at Second Manassas (Second Battle of Bull Run) in late August of 1862. But when it comes to the Battle of Sharpsburg (Battle of Antietam), the single bloodiest day in the history of the American military, during General Lee’s Maryland Campaign, once again the book does not go into detail. We mainly read about that particularly brutal battle through the eyes of Lt. Col. Chamberlain as he and his troops stayed in reserve.
The attention to detail picks up tremendously when it comes to the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, both of which were overwhelming victories for the Confederacy as they faced the substantially larger Union army. It was during the Battle of Chancellorsville where General Stonewall Jackson was accidentally shot by friendly fire and later died from complications of having his left arm amputated.
Not all of Gods and Generals takes place during the Civil War. For example, there’s plenty of action as a then Colonel Robert E. Lee is placed in command of a detachment of U.S. Marines and has to end John Brown’s stand-off at the armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. There are also many flashbacks to incidents during the Mexican-American War as many of the generals in the Civil War were young officers fresh out of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Gods and Generals is an outstanding book for those looking for human expressions of the generals and other top officers during the first part of the Civil War. This isn’t a regular history book. This is a novel that takes us into the minds of the generals and into the heart of some fierce conflicts both on and off the battlefields.
I’ll admit that this book has tremendously increased my knowledge and appreciation for this important period in American history. I wish my schools could have come close to the detail and level of understanding of why certain events occurred back in the 1860s. This book has also boosted my recognition of the Confederacy and the skilfulness of leaders such as General Stonewall Jackson and General J.E.B. Stuart.
Gods and Generals is a book that leaves you craving for more information. While it would have been nice if more details were provided including the battles at First Manassas along with Sharpsburg, such information could have easily doubled the size of this book and made reading it a challenge in itself. Concerning the massive amount of detail and hearty cast of characters already included, Gods and Generals is a book of ideal size with the paperback edition being 482 pages.
Gods and Generals is mandatory reading for those people who love American history, appreciate the American Civil War, and those who love the Confederacy as this was the time period in which the Confederate army really shined. As one of my friends (a born and raised Mississippian) commented, “It’s when the South kicked ass!”
This book was later turned into a full-length movie. The film Gods and Generals was released in 2003.
I can’t wait until it’s time to read Michael Shaara’s (Jeff Shaara’s father) book, The Killer Angels, book number two in this trilogy about the American Civil War.
