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From Amazon
As Stephen Lang reads the final installment of Michael and Jeff Shaara's American Civil War trilogy, he conveys the horror and exhaustion that overwhelmed the battered soldiers by allowing a hauntingly weary quality to color his voice. The Last Full Measure picks up where the previous novels (The Killer Angels and Gods and Generals) left off, after the devastating Battle of Gettysburg, as the Confederate Army begins a long and fiercely contested retreat. The author writes, "As the war enters its third year the bloody reports continue to fill the newspapers and the bodies of young men continue to fill the cemeteries. To the eager patriots, the idealists and adventurers who had joined the fight in the beginning, there is a new reality, where honor and glory are becoming hollow words. The great causes are slowly pushed aside and men now fight with the grim determination to take this fight to its end." Lang puts his theatrical experience (Hamlet, Death of a Salesman, A Few Good Men) to good use here, delivering the narrative with sincerity. Although his effort is occasionally distracting, he creates a multitude of voices for the many historical characters, adding an element of emotional authenticity to this exceedingly powerful story. Once again Shaara uses an evocative blend of historical fact and well-researched fiction to create a powerful portrait of the men, great and small, whose actions determined the outcome of the war. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --George Laney
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Concluding the Civil War trilogy that began with his father Michael's Pulitzer-winning The Killer Angels, Shaara (Gods and Generals) chronicles Lee's retreat from Gettysburg and his valiant efforts to defend northern Virginia from Grant's superior, better-supplied forces. Seen alternately through the eyes of Lee, Grant and Maine abolitionist Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the narrative begins with the successful Union ambush at Bristoe Station in October 1863. It then details Lee's 18-month cat-and-mouse game as he outmaneuvers Grant, despite overwhelming odds and terrible deprivation, concludes with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Impressively researched, this deeply affecting work can't be faulted for inaccuracy or lack of detail. But the occasionally coarse grain of Shaara's characterizations is a problem. Haunted by Stonewall Jackson's ghost, 56-year-old Lee frequently appears to be a semisenile neurotic. Grant, more concerned about his supply of cigars than battle losses, comes across as a dolt. This tendency toward caricature notwithstanding, Shaara has produced a stirring epigraph to his father's remarkable novel. Major ad/promo; first serial to Civil War Times Illustrated; BOMC and QPB alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
IT WAS A HIGH BLUFF, OVERLOOKING THE DARK VIOLENCE OF THE swollen river. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
IT WAS A HIGH BLUFF, OVERLOOKING THE DARK VIOLENCE OF THE swollen river. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cannot take my hands and my mind off this book,
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This review is from: The Last Full Measure (Hardcover)
Fantastic! It feels like you're back in time (1864-65) along with Generals Lee, Grant, Longstreet and so on. Amazing writing by Jeff Shaara.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Last Full Measure,
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This review is from: The Last Full Measure (Mass Market Paperback)
Superb writing on a subject that Shaara knows well, the Civil War. Like his father Michael Shaara, he has the ability to take the story and the characters who participated in the battles and turn the moments into high drama. You care about the Generals, the common soldiers whether they be Union or Southern. All of his books are written this way but my favorites are the two Civil War books he has written that are bookends to his father's fabulously written The Killer Angels. You feel as if you know the characters and were there with them through it all.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great finish in an outstanding trilogy,
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This review is from: The Last Full Measure (Mass Market Paperback)
think this book, and the two preceding it should be required reading in school. I had no idea how horrific this war was, particularly more so as the brutalities committed on both sides were against our own. There were so many moments when I wanted to stop and cry for the loss of life, and especially at the end when the one man who was capable of healing the country and bringing us all back together as one nation, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated.The research was impeccable and telling the story from the viewpoints of the various generals absolutely fascinating. The honorable Robert E. Lee, Chamberlain (loved his gracious salute to the surrendering army), and the ever fascinating U.S. Grant. One quote from so many in the book that just brought tears to my eyes: "Yes, it was horrible, horrible indeed. But he had to tell himself that, remind himself to see it that way. There was no sickening revulsion, no outrage, no indignation at the barbarism. It was just one more scene from this war, one more horror, one more mass of death, blending together with all the rest." Highly highly recommended, and will definitely open your eyes to the horror of war.
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