North and South

Rating:
Summary: Definitely in the Top 10!
Review: John Jakes is one of my favorite authors and the "North and South" books rank in my favorite top 10, too. I know these books are very long, but once you start reading, you don't even think about it. The characters are described so well, you feel like you are a part of their lives and you are actually living in another century. My favorite characters are Orry and Madeline, George and Constance, and Brett and Billy. John Jakes keeps you on the edge of seat during the part when Orry and George are fighting in the Mexican war. You grow to despise characters like Bent, Justin LaMotte, and Virgilia Hazard. I'd just like to punch that Justin LaMotte right in the nose! He is the biggest jerk! So start reading this book - then you have to read the sequels - they are equally as good!

Rating:
Summary: If you like epics read this!
Review: John Jakes is the guru of epic novel writing. North and South is a great balance of love, history, family, empire building. You won't want to put it down and when you do you will want to read the next in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Great Read for Civil War Enthusiasts
Review: Most people seem to review this book very highly and I agree. I have an interest in the Civil War and have read many nonfictional accounts of the war. This book is refreshing because the suspenseful scenes with the characters keep you very involved, but at the same time it is well researched. It seems to capture the "zeitgeist" of the times and political climate extremely well. Instead of just reading from a historical perspective that many people felt "this way" from the North (For example), you experience the complexity of people's positions on the issues (e.g. the radicals vs. the moderates). This book will draw you in, and keep you there!

Rating:
Summary: no matter what you are into
Review: No matter what you are into North and South is for you. This is one book that has everything a person could want in a book. If you like action-its there, romance-there, you will find it a tough book to put down!

Rating:
Summary: no matter what you are into
Review: No matter what you are into North and South is for you. This is one book that has everything a person could want in a book. If you like action-its there, romance-there, you will find it a tough book to put down!

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Series on the civil war
Review: North and South is an excellent book that grabs the reader from the opening page and sends him/her into the 19th century america. When I read the book I can feel the pain of the characters. I can better understand history while being entertained. John Jakes is by far the best historical author I have read.

Rating:
Summary: Historically correct, but that's about it
Review: North and South is is the typical Civil War historical novel filled with battle scenes, unrequited love and truly unbelievable characters.

The scope of the story stretches from the 1840s until the eve of the Civil War as Jakes chronicles the lives of the Hazards and the Mains. The two main characters George and Orry are the only two real likable characters, although towards the middle of the novel I found myself sick of Orry's self-pity and tired of the boredom of George. The extremeness of the other characters, the crazed abolitionist Virgilia, the self-serving and proud Ashton, and the brutal officer Bent, makes them so unbelievable that it is impossible to think of them as real. The only plus to this novel is the historical accuracy that Jakes has employed.

At the end of this novel, I knew I wouldn't be reading the rest of the North and South trilogy. If you are looking for a good Civil War novel, this isn't it.

Rating:
Summary: This epic novel enthrills the reader with suspenseful drama.
Review: North and South is one of the most interesting and informative Civil War fiction novels that I have ever read. His in depth writing style coveys the real images of the War Between the States. He is truly a skilled and well educated author. I would recommend his books to anyone!

Rating:
Summary: A classic novel of America just before the Civil War
Review: North and South is the first novel in a trilogy dealing with the American Civil War, and it is truly a remarkable work; well worth reading. I myself have read the novel many times over the past twenty years. The novel focuses on two families--the Hazards of Pennsylvania, and the Mains of South Carolina--during the period from approximately 1840 through the beginning of the Civil War. These two families, bound by close ties of friendship (the sons of each are best friends at West Point and serve in the Army together during the Mexican War) and marriage, find these ties tested by the powerful forces of political and social strife that rocked the country during this period, ultimately leading to civil war.

This is a great story. Author John Jakes does a tremendous job of transporting the reader into the period immediately before the Civil War. The country was torn by political strife that could not be resolved by the ordinary institutions of civil government, and Jakes does a masterful job of explaining this within the format of a novel, and showing how this atmosphere affected ordinary people, and their friendships and relationships. The Hazards and the Mains are unforgettable. Jakes shows how decent people (as well as people not so decent) interacted with the institution of slavery on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.

One of the best parts of the novel deals with the period during the 1840s when the two main protagonists are classmates together at West Point. This is a well-researched tale that is very insightful as regards life and strife at the military academy during a pivotal period of American history. It helps the reader understand the important role that West Point played in the nation's history during the Mexican War and, of course, the Civil War. And perhaps today.

This novel rates the overused label of "classic" and in my opinion represents one of the very best novels of the Civil War. It is, incidentally, the best novel of Jakes" "North and South" trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: A classic novel of America just before the Civil War
Review: North and South is the first novel in a trilogy dealing with the American Civil War, and it is truly a remarkable work; well worth reading. I myself have read the novel many times over the past twenty years. The novel focuses on two families--the Hazards of Pennsylvania, and the Mains of South Carolina--during the period from approximately 1840 through the beginning of the Civil War. These two families, bound by close ties of friendship (the sons of each are best friends at West Point and serve in the Army together during the Mexican War) and marriage, find these ties tested by the powerful forces of political and social strife that rocked the country during this period, ultimately leading to civil war.

This is a great story. Author John Jakes does a tremendous job of transporting the reader into the period immediately before the Civil War. The country was torn by political strife that could not be resolved by the ordinary institutions of civil government, and Jakes does a masterful job of explaining this within the format of a novel, and showing how this atmosphere affected ordinary people, and their friendships and relationships. The Hazards and the Mains are unforgettable. Jakes shows how decent people (as well as people not so decent) interacted with the institution of slavery on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line.

One of the best parts of the novel deals with the period during the 1840s when the two main protagonists are classmates together at West Point. This is a well-researched tale that is very insightful as regards life and strife at the military academy during a pivotal period of American history. It helps the reader understand the important role that West Point played in the nation's history during the Mexican War and, of course, the Civil War. And perhaps today.

This novel rates the overused label of "classic" and in my opinion represents one of the very best novels of the Civil War. It is, incidentally, the best novel of Jakes" "North and South" trilogy.