Rating: 
Summary: You can learn A LOT from the genre of historical fiction...
Review: ...and John Jakes is one of its master craftsmen. This volume is the multigenerational saga of the fictitious Bell family of Charleston, South Carolina. Its timeline runs from 1720 to 1866 and thus covers a host of tumultuous times in the Low Country community. _Charleston_ is divided into three "books." Book One sees Edward Bell fighting on the side of the American Revolution, both before and after Charleston's surrender to the British. Those of us with northern upbringing and education tend to equate the Revolution with Massachusetts in April 1775, not South Carolina in 1781. Either we never learned that Charleston fell to the British in that war, or we had no idea what that meant. Of course, the battle of the colonists versus the loyalists divides the Bell family as well, and the rift seems to widen as the decades pass. Book Two follows Alexandra Bell, her brother Hampton, and their cousins Ouida and Gibbes as they react to slavery issues and take sides in the ever-escalating debate between nullification and Unionism. Standard history books will tell you that this period is technically pre-Civil War, but it's far from a time of peace and non-violence for the Bells and other Carolinians. Alexandra moves north to join the abolitionist crusade while her brother and cousins go in different directions. Book Three covers the constant Civil War bombing of Charleston and its eventual surrender to Union forces. We trace the paths of the older Bell cousins as Alexandra comes back home, and son and nephew Calhoun Hayward spends time in several military prisons in Delaware and Ohio. Even after the war is over, divisions continue. Some residents are eager to rebuild and start over, and some can't get past a consuming blaming and hatred of Yankees. Some are pleased the blacks are freed; others are afraid. The extended Bell family and their friends are a microcosm of it all. As with other Jakes titles, fiction interacts with reality, and the Bells end up meeting a number of "famous" people along the way. This time, they're either military figures (Colonel Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Jefferson Davis) or abolitionists (the Grimke sisters, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass). The author also includes the kind of historical detail we've come to expect from his writing. Reading it thoroughly immerses one into that time period. I enjoyed reading this book and am giving it only four stars because of its demands on the reader. This is not frivolous stuff, and it won't appeal to everyone. _Charleston_ takes time to digest, to remember characters and all the incidental faces that appear in the storylines, and to occasionally look up unfamiliar words. (I personally can't wait to call someone an "ill-bred parvenu" or a "termagant," and I might even run into an "Augean stable" along the way.) It's helpful that the volume is physically divided into three books with smaller segues between, and the last 200 pages go much faster than the first 300. Jakes leaves a few threads hanging, and a sequel could be possible. Perhaps South Carolina and Charleston history can continue through the 20th century and even include the debates over the continued visibility of the Confederate flag and the recovery of the _Hunley_. I guess we'll see.
Rating: 
Summary: COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Review: As someone who has followed John Jakes through his Kent Family Chronicles to the North and South trilogy and the subsequent novels, I found myself a bit disoriented by Charleston. The book seems hurried and tries to fit so many events and so much history into one novel. And a short novel (by Jakes' standards, at least) at that. I felt that he could have taken more time to unravel the story aspect as opposed to the history aspect of the book. I don't know if Jakes is starting to wind down but his latest novels are losing the detail and thoroughness that marked his earlier books. It feels like he's coasting. Which is sad considering that Jakes is one of America's premier historical novelists.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not his best....
Review: I am a big fan of John Jakes, he is awesome and this book could have been....However good, it lacked the detail of his trilogy and 8 book chronicles....I guess that could be expected.....Charleston was good, just not great.
Rating: 
Summary: A FAILURE
Review: I have been a Jakes fan since his 1976 series, which were excellent historical novels, and I live in the Charleston area and have studied the history of the city. This book, however, is a ponderous failure. The depiction of an amazon woman, large and masculine, who has sex with two black men during the civil war, who teaches black children to write and read in the open, who escapes death many times because she is so bold, is a fiction that belongs in the trash not on your bookshelf. Not historical, not to his usual writing. He must now be under the influence of the women's movement to depict a Charleston woman of the Civil War in this manner. A major disappointment - do NOT spend your money here.
Rating:
Summary: A good book...from the best historical fiction author
Review: I love John Jakes' books. I have always found them to be incredibly well researched and deep. Charleston does not disappoint. The characters are interesting and well-rounded. I particularly liked Alex, Edward and Edgar. Mr. Jakes incorporates some little known aspects of the American Revolution, and Civil War into this book. I also liked how he occasionally mentions the Mains from "North & South" in this book. There were times when the battle details went on too long for me, but over all it is a wonderful book--full of insanity, passion, and interesting parallels from the beginning to the end. Enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating story interwoven with historical events
Review: I purchased this book at the airport simply because John Jakes' name was on it. Having loved the Bicentennial Series I knew what a great storyteller he is. I was disappointed with the North and South series but found CHARLESTON very engrossing. I completed it in a matter of hours because I could not put it down. For anyone planning on visiting Charleston I would suggest reading this book first. Historical fiction can be accurate and boring, inaccurate and fun, or accurate as well as engaging. This is one of those. Time flies when reading this!
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: I really enjoyed this but felt like it was missing something, maybe just not long enough to have filled in some of the gaps.
Rating:
Summary: By far the best book I have ever read!
Review: John Jakes book "Charleston" is wonderful! If you love history and are looking for a good book, this is the one! His tale over four generations of a Charleston family is a masterpiece. The characters come alive in this book and you learn to love and hate them! John Jakes is my favorite author and I plan on reading all his books. This is a must read!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Book But Far From Jakes's Best!
Review: Let me start off by saying that Charleston is an entertaining book -- provided you don't mind a book that is much more focused on telling history than a compelling story with interesting and well-developed characters. If the reverse is "your cup of tea", Charleston might not be to your taste. I'd suggest his Kent Family Chronicles or his North and South series. Because I have enjoyed all of Jakes's books due to his strong ability to marry historical fact with fiction, Charleston, while good, was somewhat of a letdown for me. In telling the history of Charleston from about 1720 to just past the end of the Civil War, Jakes seems to have gotten off track a bit in regards to what he was trying to do with his story. As a result, I found myself not "knowing" his characters as well as I would have liked and, for the most part, not caring about most of them. Hope this is helpful to you in deciding whether or not to read Charleston. Again, in making your decision please decide carefully if you're okay with a book whose main "character" is the history of a city moreso than the people making up that city.
Rating:
Summary: Same basic story as North & South
Review: Outside of the history lesson Jakes hands down, the basic plot and characters closely resemble his North & South Series. I listened to the abridged version on CD. Dylan Baker the reader was excellent. Too bad he was reading such boring material. If I was actually reading this book, I know I would have quit about 100 pages into it. If you like gothic romance, this book may be suited for you.
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