The book The Killer Angels helped launch an entire genre of fiction in which the author invents dialogue and interactions between a group of real-life characters who act true to their lives real models. Michael Shaara has managed to capture the essence of war, divided friendships, madness and the heroism of fratricidal conflict. Shaara brings the Battle of Gettysburg to life in historical, thrilling, and accurate detail. The novel is full of realistic plots where the generals and their junior officers come to life thanks to Shaara's extraordinary writing skills. The essence of the war is captured through the exchange between the commanding officers of both sides. Through the narrative we see Longstreet and Chamberlain receive the majority of the attention. Shaara takes the reader into the heads of these two officers, truly showing them what war is like. The novel is organized in a chronological order of events that occurred during the four days of the bloody and decisive battle of the Civil War. It is broken down into days and then into the major generals who fought. This way readers can have a good mental picture of how each event occurred. It also shows maps so readers can understand every step taken by the North and South. It helps the reader understand the emotions, tactics, and chaos involved in the war. Shaara also incorporates many background facts in the text which helps the reader to be more aware. The people who lead their armies must be intelligent. They must know how to slow down other armies in reaching Gettysburg, and they must know the weaknesses of the armies that will help defeat them. Another thing colonels and generals need to know during the war is how to fight with... middle of paper...ee, but later much of the blame was placed on Lieutenant General James Longstreet. By the end of the book you feel like you know every main character and how and why they behaved the way they did. Michael Shaara's descriptions of the scene, battle, time and emotion are spot on. From this we can conclude that Shaara has managed to capture the essence of war, divided friendships, madness and heroism of fratricidal conflict. “Here we judge you for what you do, not for what your father was. Here you can be more than dirt. I've never seen dirt that I would die for, but I'm not asking you to join us and fight for dirt. What we all fight for, in the end, is each other.” (page 30). This quote from Chamberlain sums it up. It contains the essence of war, of divided friendships, of the madness and heroism of fratricidal conflict.