HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

The Last Full Measure (1998)

by Jeff Shaara

Series: Civil War trilogy (3)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
2,144247,364 (4.02)57
The last year of the Civil War as seen by the two commanding generals, Grant and Lee. The novel is the final volume in a trilogy, begun by the author's father with The Killer Angels. In the Pulitzer prize-winning classic The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara created the finest Civil War novel of our time, an enduring bestseller that has sold more than two million copies. 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. 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. As The Last Full Measure opens, Gettysburg is past and the war advances to its third brutal year. On the Union side, the gulf between the politicians in Washington and the generals in the field yawns ever wider. Never has the cumbersome Union Army so desperately needed a decisive, hard-nosed leader. It is at this critical moment that Lincoln places Ulysses S. Grant in command, and turns the tide of war. For Robert E. Lee, Gettysburg was an unspeakable disaster, compounded by the shattering loss of the fiery Stonewall Jackson two months before. Lee knows better than anyone that the South cannot survive a war of attrition. 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. 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. Battle by staggering battle, Shaara dramatizes the escalating confrontation between Lee and Grant, complicated, heroic, deeply troubled men. 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. Full of human passion and the spellbinding truth of history, The Last Full Measure is the fitting capstone to a magnificent literary trilogy.… (more)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 57 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 23 (next | show all)
Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this read: "Continued history of the Civil, including the completion thereof. Author is the son of the author of The Killer Angels, first in the 'series'.
" ( )
  MGADMJK | Jul 23, 2023 |
Author did a great job of making reader see what the war was like, right in your face; did not make either side out to be "right" or "wrong"; portrayed inner feelings of the military leaders well. Book tired me: I struggled right along with the soldiers. ( )
  MarkLacy | May 29, 2022 |
This was the final book in [a:Jeff Shaara|14655|Jeff Shaara|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1277931532p2/14655.jpg] 's Civil War Trilogy. I read it slowly and thoughtfully and came away from the experience actually feeling heartbreak and sadness for Robert E. Lee and his men.

This is what makes Shaara's storytelling so unique: Through the entire series he never "took a side", he told the story of the Civil War through the eyes of the men that lived it, introduced you to their family and friends and made each soldier a human being that you felt you knew. I was sorry to turn the last page and now this journey was at end. Then, while on vacation last week, my husband commented that I had been reading this series since our first camping trip in May. Was it that good? And now, my husband-the non-reader(*English as a second language is hard for him*) has picked up Gods and Generals to begin the series, that makes me happy!

Shaara has written another series dubbed "The Western Front" (who knew that anything west of Virginia was called that?) of the Civil War. I look forward to starting it and learning more about Sherman and some others barely mentioned in this first series.
( )
  JBroda | Sep 24, 2021 |
Enlightening

This novel, well-written and engaging, brings a level of understanding of the participants of the Virginia campaigns in 1864-5 that cannot be gotten from reading the historical accounts of the engagements. The effort to comprehend the sheer numbers of the casualties while reading historical accounts of Civil War battles has often left me with questions. Why did they do it? Where did these men find such motivation? How could they continue for so long? Good historical fiction can fill these gaps. Jeff Shara has provided much understanding with "The Last Full Measure." It is engaging, suspenseful and compassionate. I highly recommend it. ( )
  Chipa | Apr 2, 2021 |
This is a great book. Jeff Shaara does a good job with this book. It is not as good as Killer Angels but I think it is better than God's and Generals. ( )
  mcsp | Jan 25, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 23 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
To my friend Ron Maxwell, who has taught me to never lose sight of the dream
First words
By July 1863 the Civil War has been fought over the farmlands and seacoasts of the South for better than two years, and is already one of the bloodiest wars in human history.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

The last year of the Civil War as seen by the two commanding generals, Grant and Lee. The novel is the final volume in a trilogy, begun by the author's father with The Killer Angels. In the Pulitzer prize-winning classic The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara created the finest Civil War novel of our time, an enduring bestseller that has sold more than two million copies. 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. 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. As The Last Full Measure opens, Gettysburg is past and the war advances to its third brutal year. On the Union side, the gulf between the politicians in Washington and the generals in the field yawns ever wider. Never has the cumbersome Union Army so desperately needed a decisive, hard-nosed leader. It is at this critical moment that Lincoln places Ulysses S. Grant in command, and turns the tide of war. For Robert E. Lee, Gettysburg was an unspeakable disaster, compounded by the shattering loss of the fiery Stonewall Jackson two months before. Lee knows better than anyone that the South cannot survive a war of attrition. 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. 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. Battle by staggering battle, Shaara dramatizes the escalating confrontation between Lee and Grant, complicated, heroic, deeply troubled men. 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. Full of human passion and the spellbinding truth of history, The Last Full Measure is the fitting capstone to a magnificent literary trilogy.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.02)
0.5 1
1 3
1.5 1
2 7
2.5 2
3 53
3.5 23
4 132
4.5 11
5 97

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 202,657,590 books! | Top bar: Always visible