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 enlarge | Authors: Jeff Shaara, Michael Shaara
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $43.85
Buy New: $27.49
You Save: $16.36 (37%)
New (24) Used (4) Collectible (1) from $27.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 29313
Format: Box Set
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.8 x 3.2
ISBN: 0345433726
EAN: 9780345433725
ASIN: 0345433726
Publication Date: April 27, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Five star general January 23, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Shaara has the ability to allow the reader to know the generals and soldiers in the Civil War. He must have read countless books in preparation, for he includes details that I haven't read before. Shaara takes the reader to the battlefield, and we learn the strategies and accidents of each battle. Shaara takes the reader to each general's tent, and we find out the strengths and weaknesses of each man. We learn about the horrible wounds and the lack of medical training to treat them. Each battle is described as though Shaara had been there and were writing a diary. The Last Full Measure gives the sorrow of the loss and the dignity of the surrender.
 2 out of three ain't bad January 16, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having read THE KILLER ANGELS many years ago, I was of course, very excited when the son followed his father's brilliant work. With GODS AND GENERALS, I was left wanting more. The charaters were most interesting and the setting was naturally very exciting. That period of the war was cresting for the south and with a little good fortune, things might've ended much differently, and much sooner. Along comes THE LAST FULL MEASURE. Needing to tie up the war in a nice neat package, Schaara, I think, pushes the ending upon the reader. We all know how it ended, It didn't need to be forced. With more new interesting characters to develop, it could've and should've flowed mush easier to its foreknown conclusion. I have not read any of his books since, and maybe that's unfair. I think I will sit down and check out THE GLORIOUS CAUSE next. He might have simply been overwhelmed trying to match his father's brilliance. But for anyone who has recently discovered this collaboration
either through school or word of mouth or even by watching TNT, embrace them and realize the love and passion that is being recounted through these novels. There will never be another time when so many give their "last full measure" because it's the right thing to do.
Great Set November 3, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Maybe a somewhat romanticized view of history and war (mostly heroism, very little drudgery, boredom, disease, and discomfort) but captivating, nonetheless. I was given this set as a gift from a friend. While I am very grateful because I enjoyed all the books so much, I'm a little annoyed with my buddy for unintentionally stealing all of my free time. I just couldn't stop reading them. I went from book to book over the course of about 2 weeks.
Shaara is a master of providing a voice to the legendary generals of a long concluded war. He provides so much detail about the strengths and idiosyncrasies of these men, that you feel as if you almost know them personally. What's more, as you turn the pages it seems almost possible to anticipate their actions based upon your personal insight into their characters. As you pour over the descriptions of the battles and maps of troop placements, you want to shout to the generals, "Don't you see that you're flanked? Get the heck out of there!" But perhaps the most unique experience for me, was finding that I felt for the generals on both sides of the conflict. Instead of having the almost hardwired reaction to the confederacy of, "you are supporting an immoral practice (slavery) therefore you're evil," I, for the first time, understand how so many decent, moral men became embroiled in the conflict. For that insight, I thank Mr. Shaara.
History as novel rather than historical novels October 4, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
These three books are excellent because they are well written, nice to read (difficult to put down)and are good history too, because everything is rigorously researched.
I am a "civil war buff" who has read quite a few "real history books" on the same subjects, like "High Tide at Gettysburg" by Glenn Tucker (pretty good one volume account of the battle) and " Lee" by Douglas Southall Freeman (a biography that Shaara probably used extensively), and seen the two movies Gettysburg and Gods and Generals, based on the novels.
You probably enjoy the novels better if you already have read more thorough accounts of the battles and "seen" them on film, photo, paintings,etc. If you re-enact, you are getting even closer.
The main differences are in the rythm, as history books tend to cover everything in depth, and these novels only pick the more dramatic scenes and shorten all the rest. The emotional, the purely human aspects are more highlighted as well.
The result of both Shaaras' work is that you have the impression to be there with the characters, you can see their human side (good biographies can also reach that result). But if you have all the civil war " culture", you are also better able to visualize the story, if you know what the places,the uniforms, equipment, etc. looked like. You enjoy the books even more. In the end, you also realize that war really is a terrible thing (and you still do not see pictures of corpses...) and that as Robert E.Lee himself said, after Fredericksburg, " it is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we would become too fond of it".
Everytime I finish a book on war, I feel disgust at the wastage it represents and still I come back and read another one. This was no exception.
People who loved these books should read "The battle" and "The retreat", by Patrick Rambaud (translated from French). They cover the napoleonic battles of Vienna in 1808 and the Russian campaign of 1812 in the same vein. They are also extremely well written. There is a 3rd volume on Napoleon's exile in Elba but it is apparently not available in English yet.
The great battle August 31, 2005
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book very much because of my love of the civil war.Its amazing how in one day 50,000 people can be killed.
But it is all about the outcome of the battle and the purpose of it.This story tells about alot of the people who were involved in the battle called Gettysburg.It describes how the main generals and soldiers constructed their battle warfare.It explores the generals strategy, the soldiers courage and much more.So if you like stories filled with battles, action, and history this is the book for you.Even for the people who are more laid back and dont like action it still tells a great story of heroics.
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