Customer Reviews

Joshua Chamberlain: A Hero's Life and Legacy

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Joshua Chamberlain reaches through time and space and grips the imagination of all that encounter him. John Pullen, who drew back the shroud of a forgotten hero in his excellent book "The Twentieth Maine," has come full circle in this engaging and enlightening biography. Chamberlain, the hero of Little Round Top, burst upon the American culture in the film "Gettysburg." As if in answer to the question "What makes this guy a REAL hero?," Pullen has gathered the facts and presented us with both the man and the myth. Few heroes, stripped of legend, endure the light of truth. Chamberlain not only lives up to his legend: he invites further acclaim by the manner in which he lived, and the integrity of his character. John Pullen fills in the blanks of Chamberlain's postwar life, and shows us a man worth admiring. A true American hero, Joshua Chamberlain emerges unsullied, untarnished and quite human. Thank you, Mr. Pullen!

I don't think I could say it better than the reader from Huntington, Pennsylvania - what a great review! But I agree wholeheartedly, this book allows the reader to see Chamberlain *the human* and despite his faults and frailties, he remains someone well worth admiring. John Pullen, as always, has written a very well researched and very readable book that gives one a look at the whole person. For those who are just starting to become interested in Chamberlain, this book will give you an excellent view of his later life and accomplishments (all of which were achieved despite a debilitating wound!). For those who have been Chamberlain fans for years, this book will help you get to know him even more and give you further reason to admire him.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain did not appear "ex nihilo" on 2 July 1863 at the craggy slope of Little Round Top. Neither did he disappear on 12 April 1865 following his magnanimous violation of military protocol at Appomattox Court House. In this volume, Mr. Pullen documents Chamberlain's life after the Civil War, demonstrating that the hero's character continued to illuminate all his life until his death in 1914.

Unlike Sis Deans', "His Proper Post;" Michael Golay's, "To Gettysburg and Beyond;" or Willard M. Wallace's, "Soul of the Lion," Pullen's text does not presume to be a complete biography. It does not address the question of what forces in Chamberlain's up-bringing formed such an extraordinary man.

Unlike Chamberlain's own books "Through Blood & Fire at Gettysburg," and "The Passing of the Armies;" or Michael Shaara's, "The Killer Angels," and Alice Rains Trulock's, "In The Hands of Providence," this is not primarily a book about soldiers at war.

The question that Pullen addresses is, "What becomes of the hero after the battles cease: how is courage displayed after the war ends?" In the case of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and other great Americans, the answer is that true heroes continue to demonstrate the same commitment to service in peace as in war. True heroes demonstrate the same integrity and courage in their chosen civilian occupations that they once showed while facing iminent death.

Forget the trendy books on leadership and values. Instead, read Mr. Pullen's book. Be inspired by the story of an exceptional leader, who demonstrated his commitment to American values until the day he died.

Since I was a kid, Chamberlain has been the model of a man to me. One of the great American heroes. There are longer and more detailed accounts but if you're a newcomer and want to quickly get to know the man, look no further.

Joshua Chamberlain's post-Civil-War life never reached the heights of his military exploits. John Pullen has done an excellent job researching and writing about Chamberlain after the Civil War, but, like Chamberlain's civilian life, it's not as gripping as his Civil War experiences. For die-hard Chamberlain fans and those interested in Maine's and Bowdoin's history, it's worth reading, but if it's excitement you want, read Killer Angels.

There wasn't much information about his childhood, but overall it was a very good book. It did a nice job of communicating what kind of man he was.

JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN: A HERO's LIFE AND LEGACY by John J. Pullen is an interesting insight into the life and times of Maine's famous civil war hero. There are several books about Chamberlain as his popularity has surged in recent years, but perhaps none as grounded and lifelike as this one.

This is not an exercise in hero worship, although there is a great deal to commend Chamberlain to the reader. Nor is it an essay designed simply to enlarge his celebrity, as if there was a need. This portrait is more than that; it shows the General at his best and most vulnerable to criticism. This is a book which, in some ways, reduces Chamberlain to status as a mere mortal. But in the doing, makes him all the more engaging.

It is comforting, somehow, to know him as a man of like passions and weaknesses. Despite those passions, Chamberlain was a man of extraordinary courage, boldness, and leadership. The battle of Little Round Top is legendary but less well-known are his heroic stands to quell civil rebellion in Maine, his willingness to support unpopular, impolitic positions as Governor, and his greatest contribution to the body politic: an unerring purpose to "do the right thing, no matter the cost."

Great fame and fortune were certainly his for the taking but he would not compromise with political powers on his principles, on doing the right thing. In my opinion, this is his greatest legacy to the generations which have followed him. Whether as Brever General, Governor, President of Bowdoin College, or other affairs of state large and small, Chamberlain was unwavering in his course toward integrity, honesty, and principle.

Wonderfully detailed and researched, Pullen does an excellent job painting this fascinating protrait of a true American hero.