The Last Full Measure (The Civil War Trilogy #3)

This book is the third in a trilogy, The first Killer Angels written by the father Michel Shaara, and the latter two Gods and Generals and The last Full Measure by his son Jeff. The last chapters on Grants encirclement of Lee at Appomattox are excellent. I assume that the dates, places and numbers are historically accurate. The dialogues are not referenced and have doubtful provenance. Certainly fictional are the interior dialogues, esp Lees interminable conversations with god.

There is a gaping hole in the books of son Jeff. The word slavery has four tangential references in Last Full Measure proper and one in the Introduction: There is also a great middle ground, men of reason and intellect, who now understand that there is more to this war than the inflammatory issue of slavery, or the argument over the sovereign rights of the individual states. Oh, really? what more? Independence, for whom? Freedom, to do what? No answer. Insufficient reason and intellect? In all his conversations with the almighty, god never asks Lee how he would feel if his darling daughter Precious Life Mildred were inflammatorily raped by an overseer, or if his small children were inflammatorily taken from him and sold into slavery. Social intelligence is the ability to put yourself in the shoes of another. Jeff gives god and Lee the social intelligence of the slaveholder; maybe thats all this Tallahassee son has to give. Theres plenty of information easily accessible. I recommend Jacey Fortins Aug 18, 2017 article in the New York Times Aug 19, 2017, and Inhuman Bondage by David Davis. It was all about slavery. Crypto racists always want to talk about something else. Nothing new under the (setting) sun.

History books often vilify the Southern states when narrating the events of the civil war. They emphasize in the importance of abolishing slavery, often leaving out other important factors of the war. ‘The last Full Measure’ along with the trilogy of the Civil War by Jeff Shaara and his father Michael Shaara, gives a different view on the reasons that lead to the war, the conflict between soldiers who used to fight side by side are now pinned against each other in order to defend their valued believes. Their territory and sovereignty for the soldiers of the south and the integrity of the Union for the soldiers of the North. I strongly recommend reading the whole book series to anyone interested in having a real look into this important war that in great measure defined the history of the United States.

Final book of a trilogy that begins with Michael Shaaras Pulitzer Prize winner, The Killer Angels and written by Shaaras son. This book was really good! Better than Gods and Generals which is the second book of the trilogy and was also written by Jeff Shaara. Well written and insightful, the historical novel has enough history to be educational and enough novel to enhance the narrative when it comes to painting a picture of the players. It IS necessary for the reader to keep in mind that this book, as well as the others in the trilogy, is historical fiction and not history. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the trilogy!

Oh my. I read the books in order that they came out. This book, this story, this format… its tragically beautiful. When Lee surrenders (spoiler for anyone who knows little about the American Civil War or American History) I teared up. The dignitiy of a man who I believe was on the wrong side was touching. The grace that Grant showed was hopeful. And then lots of bad things happened in Reconstruction.

If you are a history buff, if you want to understand why we are where we are, read this series.

I’m still working through it. God’s & Generals, and Killer Angels were read in one setting. This one isn’t so compelling. I’ll eventually finish it but it’s not grabbing my attention like the other two did. I do have a prejudice in that I’ve read many other books on the Civil War, including Shelby Foote’s 3-volume set three times. So the characters here are ‘old news.’ If you’ve never read any books on the Civil War, this may hold your attention, although in that situation you won’t know who the people are either. Jeff here is good. But he has other books that are excellent.

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