In a letter to the reader, Michael Shaara states that his goal is similar to that of Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage. He wants to show the story not as cold facts, but rather in such a way that the reader can experience the story. This must be accomplished through extensive detail of the men's emotions, the atmosphere of the battle, and the strategies of the commanding officers. Accepting this as Shaara's intent, it can rightly be said that he succeeds in achieving his goal. The Killer Angels doesn't just tell which attacks and defenses were carried out by which colonels and generals. Instead, the book delves into the emotions of the battle's major figures and what they endured physically and mentally as they planned assault, defense, or simple preservation of life. In this way, The Killer Angels helps the reader understand the causes of the Battle of Gettysburg and the incidents that occurred from June 29 to July 4, 1863. For this reason, when faced with the question of whether it is a good historical reference story, definitely yes . Most history books tell that, during the Battle of Gettysburg, General George Gordon Meade led the Army of the Potomac against General Robert Edward Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. If the text goes deeper, it mentions Major General George Pickett leading a fatal charge up Cemetery Hill under Lee. The history text will not further discuss the other officers who were instrumental in the Battle of Gettysburg, and that is what Shaara focuses on. The structure of the book itself is organized into sections, each following the point of view of a particular officer. Shaara assigns sections as needed, sometimes alternating between two opposites… half of the paper… a realistic alternative might have found victory. We can do this because we have working knowledge of Lee's subordinate commanding officers and his opposition, as well as the terrain. In a sense, we can command the officers as we plan what would work and what wouldn't. From this, we gain a solid understanding of the history of the Battle of Gettysburg. As shown, Michael Shaara's use of detail provides the reader with enough information to look beyond the facts. The reader gains in-depth knowledge of the commanding officers and the emotions that drove the soldiers into combat. The reader also understands what the soldiers faced in the heat of battle: the excitement, the danger, the desperation of defeat, and the joy of victory. The Killer Angels takes the gritty facts of the battle and blends them with detail and emotion to recreate the Battle of Gettysburg.