The Last Full Measure

This conclusion to the Shaaras' Civil War trilogy begins as Lincoln places Ulysses S. Grant in command of the Union army. Shaara's exquisitely detailed account conveys a sense of impending tragedy, and Estell's newsreader style of delivery adds further to this. Estell's voice is clear, concise, well paced, and easy to listen to, while still capturing the weariness of the soldiers, officers, their wives, everyone. From the disaster at Gettysburg, to the costly Battle of the Wilderness, and finally Appomattox, listeners will hear and experience the dreadful toll war takes on the minds, hearts and, more obviously, the bodies of mere mortals. Civil war is surely any country's greatest tragedy. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

May 18, 1998
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.