****Excellent***Good**Fair*Poor : AUDIOCASSETTES

“The Killer Angels,” a novel by Michael Shaara. (Slightly abridged; nine cassettes, about 14 hours.) Books on Tape. Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning docudrama novel takes the reader/listener through the Battle of Gettysburg, which ended on the Fourth of July, 1863. The narrative intercuts Northern and Southern perspectives, presenting a bone-tired and ailing Robert E. Lee, other generals and junior officers from both armies, and minor characters, such as an actor who became a Confederate spy. Battles are described in words are often hard to envision, but Shaara’s crystal-clear presentation and Ken Ohst’s quite theatrical reading (originally done for broadcast) fill the imagination nicely. The doomed Southern attack up strongly defended Cemetery Ridge is a stunning piece of exposition. Shaara sees errors and blunders but finds the gallantry evenly divided, and he sketches the later lives of the surviving principals. The appeal of the work is not confined to Civil War buffs. Information: (800) 626-3333. ***