Saturday, March 24, 2012

Book Review: Cain at Gettysburg

Every once in a while, you read a book where you just hate that you finished the last page.  "Cain at Gettysburg", by Ralph Peters, was that type of book for me.

Wow.   Great book!   Peters, a retired US Army officer and bestselling author, has hit a home run with CaG.  

Don't think this is "Killer Angels".   CaG is far grittier, and less heroic in tone.   Where KA emphasized the 20th Maine and Chamberlain, in CaG they aren't even mentioned.   I found it fascinating to follow the different historical characters that Peters chose to use to tell the story.  The fictional characters were a bit more uneven, but taken as a whole, very well done.

Peters' battle narratives are chilling and forceful page turners.

If you have ANY interest in the Battle of Gettysburg, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Cain-at-Gettysburg-Ralph-Peters/dp/0765330474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332633661&sr=8-1

Quoting from the final pages of Author's Notes:

"It demeans the heroes of Gettysburg to depict them as flawless saints.  Not one was cut from marble in the womb.  Imperfect men fought an imperfect battle and so preserved "a more perfect union" for all.    Heroes are men who overcome themselves".

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