The Last Full Measure
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The Last Full Measure (published May 19, 1998 by Ballantine Books; ISBN 0345404912) is the sequel to The Killer Angels and Gods and Generals. Together, the three novels complete an American Civil War trilogy relating events from 1858 up to the end of the war.
The Last Full Measure (and Gods and Generals) was written by Jeffrey Shaara after his father, Michael Shaara, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels died in 1988. Employing the same style as the previous two books in the series, The Last Full Measure takes the reader inside the minds of several of the most important officers of the Union and Confederate Armies as they regroup after Gettysburg and march on into the final two years of the war. Returning from the previous novels are General Robert E. Lee and Colonel Joshua Chamberlain. The new addition to this volume is General Ulysses S. Grant, who is given control of the Northern troops after a series of poor commanders have failed to ensure victory.
From the Battle of the Wilderness to the Battle of the Crater, from Chamberlain's home in Maine to Appomattox Courthouse, Shaara gives a detailed account of honorable men whose heroism, egotism, and occasional outright incompetence changed the course of United States history. At the end of the movie interpretation of Gods and Generals it was announced that The last Full Measure would also be recreated on the big screen; however, this has yet to occur, and no definite plans for such a film have been set.