Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
---|---|---|
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake) | FICTION JAK | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Oakdale Library | PB FICTION JAK | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | FICTION JAK | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
The exhilarating conclusion of #1 New York Times bestselling author John Jakes' epic North and South Trilogy--the Civil War saga that inspired the classic television miniseries North and South-- with over five million copies sold!
The Civil War has ended, but the Hazards and Mains have yet to face their greatest struggles. Even as the embers of old hatreds continue to burn in the heart of a nation torn apart by war, a new future in the West awaits a new generation of Americans seeking a life of their own--and a place to call home. Filled with all of the vivid drama, passion, and action that has made John Jakes the acclaimed master of historical fiction, Heaven and Hell is the tumultuous final chapter in one of the greatest epics of our time.
Author Notes
John Jakes was born in Chicago in 1932. He studied acting at Northwestern University, where he began writing professionally during his freshman year. Later he enrolled in a creative writing program at DePauw University and received a master's degree in American literature from Ohio State University.
Early in his career Jakes wrote copy for a pharmaceutical company and various ad agencies, and authored dozens of short stories encompassing western, mystery and science fiction themes. In March 1973, Jakes commenced work on The Kent Family Chronicles, a multi-volume set portraying American history through the lives of a fictional family. Later works include North and South (1982), California Gold (1989), Homeland (1993), and American Dreams. Six of his major novels have been filmed as television miniseries, and North and South remains one of the highest rated miniseries in the history of television. Jakes is actively involved in the adaptation of North and South for the Broadway stage.
John Jakes has been hailed as the godfather of the historical novel, and America's history teacher. He died on March 11, 2023.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
As one might expect, this final volume in Jake's North and South trilogy makes splendid reading. Dealing with Reconstruction as the earlier volumes dealt, respectively, with pre-Civil War rumblings and the war itself, this novel resumes the saga of the Hazards of Pennsylvania and the Mains of South Carolina, both families now sadly depleted and bound together as much by hate as love. The Union has triumphed but there's no peace, as radical northern Republicans seek to impose punitive rule on the South and succeed in bringing impeachment proceedings against President Johnson; the Ku Klux Klan goes its ludicrous and hideous way; and in the West, army generals, most notably Custer, savagely subdue the Indians. The principal fictional characters threading the accurate groundwork of major national events are, on the Hazard side, steelmaker George, his abolitionist sister Virgiliastet and his corrupt, incompetent brother Stanley who (significantly) goes into politics. In the Main family, there are Orry's octoroon widow Madeline, a prime target of the Klan, his unscrupulous sister Ashton and, most insistently and compellingly, Charles, whose adventures include scouting for Custer, until he becomes disgusted by the Washita Massacre, and, with Indian help, tracking the crazed abductor of his small son. Idealism and corruption, tenderness and brutality, innocence and insanity, all figure in the narrative, a highly colored amalgam of heaven and hell, with the latter predominating. Literary Guild dual main selection; Doubleday Book Club main selection; first serial to Cosmopolitan. (October 10) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
The saga of the Hazard and Main families continues in this conclusion of the North and South trilogy. The story centers on Charles, Orry Main's cousin, a Southerner totally devastated by the Civil War. Displaced and just having lost his beloved Augusta, Charles heads West with his infant son hoping to make a new life. With Charles as the focal point, the narrative continually shifts to all the other family members, including George Hazard in Pennsylvania, Madeline Main struggling to rebuild Mont Royal, etc., and unbeknownst to any of them, a madman bent on destroying both families. With a cast of diverse and colorful characters, the author spins an entertaining tale full of historical detail.Maria A. Perez-Stable, Western Michigan Univ. Libs., Kalamazoo (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.