Jeffrey M. "Jeff" 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 writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and the son of

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

winner

Michael Shaara Michael Shaara (June 23, 1928 – May 5, 1988) was an American author of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to an Italian immigrant father (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra, which in Italian is pron ...

Biography

Jeffrey Shaara was born in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

. He graduated from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

in 1974 with a degree in

Criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

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 ''The Killer Angels'' is a 1974 historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. The book depicts the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, and the days leading up to i ...

''. Jeff followed his father's footsteps upon the latter's death, writing

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

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 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and

North African North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

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 definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, and was released on May 17, 2011.

Awards

Shaara has received the

W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction is awarded annually by the American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and l ...

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, with 49,727 members a ...

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 ''The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II'' is a historical novel written by Jeff Shaara about Operation Overlord. The book is the second book in a trilogy written by Shaara. The novel begins in January 1944, nearly six months before the invasi ...

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 Award", 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. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

made the major motion picture '' Gods and Generals'', which was based upon 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 ''Gone for Soldiers'' is a 2000 historical novel by Jeffrey Shaara about the Mexican–American War. It was written as a stand-alone novel, but could also be seen as a prequel to the Civil War trilogy written by Shaara and his father, Michael Sha ...

'' (2000)—US-Mexican War (1847–1848) *''

Rise to Rebellion ''Rise to Rebellion'' is a 2001 historical fiction book by Jeff Shaara that tells the story of the events leading up to the American Revolution. The book spans from the Boston Massacre to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. ...

'' (2001)—Pre-American Revolutionary War (1770–1776) *''

The Glorious Cause ''The Glorious Cause'' is a historical novel by author Jeff Shaara, a sequel to '' Rise to Rebellion'' and the conclusion to Shaara's retelling of the American Revolution. ''The Glorious Cause'' consists of a set of third-person narratives fo ...

'' (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 *''

'' (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 ''The Eagle's Claw'' is a 1924 American silent Western film starring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams. It was produced and directed by Charles R. Seeling. The film is preserved in a foreign archive in Brussels. On DVD it is available from the Grapevi ...

'' (2021) - Battle of Midway, World War II (1939–1945) * '' The Old Lion'' (2023) - Teddy Roosevelt's life and times, including Amazon exploration

References

"Interview with Jeff Shaara"
by Gene Santoro, HistoryNet.com, September 2009.
"Meet Jeff Shaara"
official web site
"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 a research library for the study of military history on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. The institution was founded in 2003, and its spe ...

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