Biographies and autobiographies are always fascinating to read. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the Gettysburg battle of the Civil War, The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara sketches the events of those dreadful four days by telling the stories of the major military officers on both sides. His approach to the wider story by means of individual stories skillfully brings to life what is too often analyzed in terms of simple military strategies and schemes. The combat is not stripped of its personal dimension, and the opposing leaders are not reduced to one-dimensional figures.
