The Killer Angels. by Shaara, Michael - 1974

New York: David Mckay Company, 1974. Early printing of Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Mary:- Hope to see you again, not on TV this time- Michael Shaara June 3, 1975." Name of the recipient on the pastedown, fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Paul Bacon. Maps by Don Pitcher. Stephen Crane once said that he wrote The Red Badge of Courage because reading the cold history was not enough; he wanted to know what it was like to be there, what the weather was like, what men's faces looked like. In order to live it he had to write it. This book was written for much the same reason" (Shaara). The Killer Angels reveals more about the Battle of Gettysburg than any piece of learned nonfiction on the same subject. James McPherson wrote, "This is my favorite historical novel . . . a superb re-creation of the Battle of Gettysburg, but its real importance is its insight into what the war was about, and what it meant." "A book that changed my life... I had never visited Gettysburg, knew almost nothing about that battle before I read the book, but here it all came alive" (Ken Burns). The Killer Angels was adapted into the classic 1993 film 'Gettysburg' directed by Ronald F. Maxwell and starring Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, and Martin Sheen; the score was composed by Randy Edelman.