Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War

I screwed up and didn't read the reviews closely enough. I threw my book in the garbage to take it out of circulation.

Add me to the list of those who were at first reluctant to dive into a book which, at first glance, seemed designed solely for the Southern apologist crowd. However, this novel is just too good to pass up for any Civil War buff. There is real tension in this book. While we know from the beginning the South will somehow prevail in this alternative history, the authors do a masterful job of leading the reader on to the climactic battle scene- this time with the Union forced into a reverse Pickett's charge against an entrenched Confederate army. The battlefield scenes are some of the best I have read. It is almost too bad that the authors could not have avoided the 'what if?' premise and just wrote a historical novel based on the true events of Gettysburg- it is that good. However, "The Killer Angels" has apparently preempted the field for future historical novels concerning the Gettysburg battle. What the authors give us in this novel is great character development, with actions taken by the various participants- Lee, Longstreet, Meade, Sickles, etc- which are remarkably true to their character. Historical novels do not get much better than this.

I have to admit, I was surprised and pleased when I read Gettysburg by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen. Their previous effort at alternate history, 1945, did not do very well, primarily in my opinion because that book was slapped together in haste to try to sell books based on Speaker Gingrich's name and fame. Not so this offering. The premise is simple. On the second day of the battle, Lee does not assault the Little Round Top. Instead, taking Longstreet's advice, he sends a goodly portion of his army round to the far right flank of the Union Army, seizing its supplies and cutting it off from Washington. What follows is a hellish bloodbath which is all the more searing to the Civil War buff as one sees what happens to familiar charecters such as Chamberlain, Hood, Armestead, and others. I cannot recommend this book enough. It is nothing less than a counterfactural Killer Angels. It is also, irritatingly, the first of a trilogy. Now we'll have to wait for the narrative of the second volume, to be named apparently Grant Comes East. --Mark R. Whittington http://curmudgeons.blogspot.com/

I did not buy this book, a friend who is crazed about anything related to the Civil War subtlety recommend it by putting it in my hand saying really, "you will like it". Unconvinced that I would be interested in a Civil War battle of anything by Newt Gingrich for that matter, I took it home. This book takes hold of you unmercifully, and in my case reluctantly, and does not let go. The character development is remarkable. You will fret over every agonizing decision and cringe at every gory, and I do mean gory, detail. Three cheers for Gingrich and William Forstchen on their alternative history, I'm convinced - they can tell a great story.

I am a lifelong Marylander and raised in the midst of tons of Civil War history. Gettysburg, especially, has always fascinated me. In addition, I am a huge fan of author William Forstchen. Even with both of those points, I was unprepared for just how fantastic this book truly is. The book begins with detail worthy of a true history book, but done in such a well-written way that you are soon with both armies as they prepare for their epic conflict.You can see the fields filled with soldiers in both blue and gray, hear the roar of the cannons and almost smell the smoke. The people and places are described so well that they almost jump off the page.The battle begins just as it really did. For those of us who love history (and alternate history), it draws us in beautifully. But then events begin to change. There comes a moment when history, as we know it, is altered.Now it is up to the soldiers themselves -- officers and enlisted men as drawn believably by the authors -- to act as they would have done. What will Lee, the master tactician do now? How will Meade react, so new to command? I can't tell you and I'd love to, but I won't spoil one page of this book. Just know this: Buy the book. You won't regret it. (As an aside, I almost never bother with these online reviews. I like the book so much, I just had to.)

There are many reasons for reading this book. Although an historical novel, it reads like a mystery thriller. I found myself reading as fast as I could to find out the ending. Another reason is, although a novel, the historical accuracies are many. I became much more familiar with the localized geography of the Gettysburg towns, rivers, bridges, hills, and valleys. There are also the breathtaking accounts of charges and maneuvers and skirmishes, not to mention details of military life during battle. I felt, at times, that I was right there and could smell the sickening odor of decaying and singed human and horse flesh, could actually see myself in hand-to-hand combat or running forward with hundreds of other Union soldiers (I'm a Yankee) in a line stretching 1/4 mile over crests and down gullies, through streams and parched, dusty fields, jumping over fallen comrades, and feeling the absolute knowledge that as I ran toward the Rebel fortifications, there was no place to hide and the only thing preventing a shard of lead slamming into me and ripping me apart was mere chance.These are reasons enough. But they are not the main reason. George Santayana once said, "Those who do not learn from history, are bound to repeat it." And this is why this book is invaluable -- for reading this type of "history" makes one contemplate the "what ifs." What if the South had defeated the Union Army at Gettysburg? Would Lee have marched on Washington forcing the Union to sue for peace? Would the South have entered into the economic and political sphere of Great Britain? (Confederate delegates were in London trying to accomplish this during the 1860's.) What if the South had won the war? Would the southern states have been able to maintain their internal status quo after part of the slave population had tasted freedom by way of the Emancipation Proclamation? Would they have directed their attention toward Mexico and become a dominant force in the central part of the Western Hemisphere?History not only helps us to understand where we have come from, but also where we are and where we are going. Alas, this book stimulates us to ask: What if Chamberlain had stood up to Hitler at Munich? What if Truman had stopped MacArthur from approaching the Yalu and Chinese border? What if we approach Syria and Iran diplomatically with 200,000 U.S. troops in Iraq as emphasis?Therein lies the beauty of this book.