THE LAST FULL MEASURE IS MORE THAN ANOTHER HISTORICAL NOVEL. From the costly Battle of the Wilderness to the agonizing siege of Petersburg to Lee’s epoch-making surrender at Appomattox, Shaara portrays the riveting conclusion of the Civil War through the minds and hearts of the individuals who gave their last full measure.įull of human passion and the spellbinding truth of history, The Last Full Measure is the fitting capstone to a magnificent literary trilogy. Here too is Joshua Chamberlain, the college professor who emerged as the Union hero of Gettysburg-and who will rise to become one of the greatest figures of the Civil War.īattle by staggering battle, Shaara dramatizes the escalating confrontation between Lee and Grant-complicated, heroic, deeply troubled men. But with the total devotion of his generals-Longstreet, Hill, Stuart-and his unswerving faith in God, Lee is determined to fight to the bitter end. Lee knows better than anyone that the South cannot survive a war of attrition. Lee, Gettysburg was an unspeakable disaster-compounded by the shattering loss of the fiery Stonewall Jackson two months before. Grant in command-and turns the tide of war.įor Robert E.

It is at this critical moment that Lincoln places Ulysses S. Never has the cumbersome Union Army so desperately needed a decisive, hard-nosed leader. On the Union side, the gulf between the politicians in Washington and the generals in the field yawns ever wider. Now, Jeff Shaara brings this legendary father-son trilogy to its stunning conclusion in a novel that brings to life the final two years of the Civil War.Īs The Last Full Measure opens, Gettysburg is past and the war advances to its third brutal year. In the bestselling Gods and Generals, Shaara’s son, Jeff, brilliantly sustained his father’s vision, telling the epic story of the events culminating in the Battle of Gettysburg. In the Pulitzer prize–winning classic The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara created the finest Civil War novel of our time.

Shaara civil war trilogy