Jeffrey M. Shaara (born February 21, 1952) is an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and the son of

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winner Michael Shaara.

Biography

Jeffrey Shaara was born in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

. He graduated from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

in 1974 with a degree in

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

and lives in Gettysburg. He wrote '' Gods and Generals'' and '' The Last Full Measure'', which are the prequel and sequel, respectively, to his father Michael's award-winning novel '' The Killer Angels''. Jeff followed his father's footsteps upon the latter's death, writing

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

and documenting the American wars and their most historically relevant characters. In total, Jeff has written fifteen ''New York Times'' bestselling novels. Jeff delivered the commencement speech at the University of Delaware's 2005 undergraduate ceremony. Jeff has deemed this "one of the most important moments in his life." He completed a trilogy in 2010 about

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the European and North African theaters. A fourth World War II novel, titled '' The Final Storm'', covers the end of the war in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

, and was released on May 17, 2011.

Awards

Shaara received the W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction from the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

in 2022 for ''The Eagle's Claw'', in 2018 for ''The Frozen Hours'', in 2005 for ''To The Last Man: A Novel of The First World War'', and in 1997 for ''Gods and Generals''. The American Library Association's Reference and Users Services Association recognized '' The Steel Wave'' as a 2009 Notable Book. He has also been awarded the Lincoln Forum's Richard Nelson Current Award of Achievement, New York Civil War Round Table's "Bell I. Wiley Awar, and Florida State University's Artes Award as a Distinguished Alumnus. In 2011, Shaara was inducted into the FSU College of Criminology Hall of Fame and awarded FSU's first annual Distinguished Writer's Award.

Film adaptations

In 2003,

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

made the major motion picture '' Gods and Generals'', which was based on his book of the same title.

Works

*''Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields: Discovering America's Hallowed Ground'' (2006)

Novels

*'' Gods and Generals'' (1996)—Civil War (1858–1863) *'' The Last Full Measure'' (1998)—Civil War (1861–1865) *'' Gone for Soldiers'' (2000)—US-Mexican War (1847–1848) *'' Rise to Rebellion'' (2001)—Pre-American Revolutionary War (1770–1776) *'' The Glorious Cause'' (2002)—American Revolutionary War (1776–1783) *'' To the Last Man'' (2004)—World War I (1914–1918) *'' The Rising Tide'' (2006)—World War II (1939–1945), Trilogy Part 1 of 3 *'' The Steel Wave'' (2008)—World War II (1939–1945), Trilogy Part 2 of 3 *'' No Less Than Victory'' (2009)—World War II (1939–1945), Trilogy Part 3 of 3 *'' The Final Storm'' (2011)—World War II (1939–1945), Pacific Theater *'' A Blaze of Glory'' (2012)—Civil War (1861-1865), Western Theater, Tetralogy Part 1 of 4 * '' A Chain of Thunder'' (2013)—Civil War (1861-1865), Western Theater, Tetralogy Part 2 of 4 * '' The Smoke at Dawn'' (2014)—Civil War (1861-1865), Western Theater, Tetralogy Part 3 of 4 * '' The Fateful Lightning'' (2015)—Civil War (1861-1865), Western Theater, Tetralogy Part 4 of 4 * '' The Frozen Hours'' (2017)—Korean War (1950-1953) * '' To Wake The Giant'' (2020)—Pearl Harbor, World War II (1939–1945) * '' The Eagle's Claw'' (2021) - Battle of Midway, World War II (1939–1945) * '' The Old Lion'' (2023) - Teddy Roosevelt's life and times, including Amazon exploration * '' The Shadow of War'' (2024) - Cuban Missile Crisis

References

"Interview with Jeff Shaara"
by Gene Santoro, HistoryNet.com, September 2009.
"Meet Jeff Shaara"
official website
"Author Jeff Shaara"
3 interviews at BookReporter.com: May 16, 2008; November 10, 2006; October 2004.
"Interview with Best-Selling Author Jeff Shaara"
by Greg Caggiano, January 24, 2011.

External links

Author's website

Interview
on ''The Rising Tide'' at the

Pritzker Military Museum & Library The Pritzker Military Museum & Library (formerly Pritzker Military Library) is a non-profit museum and research library for the study of military history located in a state-of-the art facility in Kenosha, WI. The institution was founded in 2003, ...

on November 30, 2006
Video
o
audio
interview by Karen Saupe on ''Inner Compass''
Video
interview on ''The Steel Wave''
Interview
on his father and ''No Less Than Victory'' at the

on February 4, 2010 *
''In Depth'' interview with Shaara, September 7, 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaara, Jeffrey 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American historical novelists American male novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age Novelists from Florida Florida State University alumni 1952 births Living people American writers of Italian descent Writers from New Brunswick, New Jersey 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New Jersey Leon High School alumni