Captains and the Kings

Rating:
Summary: Best real-life fiction I've ever read...
Review: A story about a young Irish trying to make his way to thetop of nineteenth-century society, and how he struggles toreach what he always dreamed. Intermixes politics, passion, love, hate, and just plain old common sense. Me? I've read it something like 3 or 4 times already.

Rating:
Summary: One of the great, classic tomes in literature
Review: Although it took me longer than I'd have liked to start and finish this book, it was worth the effort. This novel first came out when I was still in high school, and regrettably I have never seen the mini-series. Wouldn't it be great for cable tv if they'd have the Mini-series channel-rerunning all those old, classic mini-series and made-for-tv movies? Anyway, getting back to this book. Right from the beginning, it was very clear that Joseph Armagh was not a very likable character. I realize all that he'd been through with his mother dying while they were crossing the ocean(in steerage), leaving him with his younger brother and newborn baby sister. Finally reaching New York, they(the Irish)were turned away, sent off to Philadelphia where Joseph eventually learned of the death of his father. Broke and starving, Joseph puts the children in a Catholic orphanage & does whatever he can to earn a few dollars & feed himself. As the years go by he realizes he needs a fortune to survive in this country, and will do whatever it takes to build one. Coming upon a newspaper article one day he reads of men making money working in oil, all it takes is drilling equipment and determination. After making arrangements to leave the children at the orphanage for at least a year, he books passage on a train to Titusville and meets up with another young man named Haroun with the same idea. Reluctant to make friends with this boy, they find themselves squeezed onto the train like cattle, and without any seats they have to stand on the steel plates between the cars. Haroun slips when his foot is caught & Joseph does his best to free him without losing his foot. As fate would have it they meet the very rich & powerful Mr. Healy, who takes a liking to the boys, moving them into his home & the rest, as they say is history. Both work for Mr. Healy, Haroun out in the oil fields & Joseph in his office where he learns the business & inherits everything years later when Mr. Healy dies. As he gets older Joseph becomes more & more set in his ways, angry at the world & not wanting to open up to anyone. The story takes a more interesting turn when he marries & starts his family, but enough of my synopsis, get the book for yourself & you're in for a treat.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but about 200 pages too long.
Review: An excellent and engrossing book. However, was dissapointed in the way the ending was kind of drawn out. I felt that it could have ended about 200 pages sooner and not lost much. Still, was an engrossing read. Read it all the way through, even though the ending was not as strong as I would have liked.

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Read! Once You Start It, There's No Stopping!
Review: An excellent story! I read this book years ago and have been searching for the video tape version of the mini-series for years. I'm comforted to see that I am not the only one who has been searching video stores and mail order catalogs for years in search of the VHS tapes! A must read!

Rating:
Summary: Timeless; a "must read"
Review: An inside view of the raw power of world affairs. Set against the backdrop of America in its adolescence, Captains and the Kings will leave no question in the reader's mind as to how the world is really run. Should be required reading for any serious student of political history.

Rating:
Summary: Deep and Thought Provoking
Review: Everything about this book is awesome. At first, I thought it was slow and was going to stop reading. I'm glad I didn't. It's very moving and a real eye opener. I am going crazy trying to find the video of the mini-series! Does anyone at all know if one is available at all? E-mail me at [e-mail] please!!

Rating:
Summary: Honest depiction of the political and corpoate systems
Review: Has proven to me that I am not paranoid about goverments'and corporations'schemes to control the masses. As the saying goes, 'a person is only paranoid if they are wrong.' Thank you Ms. Caldwell for your courage and your willingness to educate our populace.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for the book and would like to see the series again!
Review: have not read the book but the series was exc.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books
Review: I believe this book was one of the greatest books I have ever read. It fills us with the beauties of life and the realization of surviving life. It captivates your senses with suspense and wonder. This book I have read many times and each time I learn something new. I recommend this book for those that want to experience life to the fullest.

Rating:
Summary: Review and notification of stupidity
Review: I firmly feel that this book is amazingly written, and the views and plot are entirely different from many other historical fiction type books. It is in the time of a war, but it focuses on one of the most horrible things America has done. The prejudice against Irish immagrants, which included not hiring them, making them live in run-down homes, and forcing them to go back to Ireland as soon as they arrive on their ships. Joseph Francis Xavier Armagh is a captivating young Irish lad who will do anything to earn a dollar so he can finally give his younger brother and sister what they deserve. He embarks on a long journey to the town Titusville, where he intends to harvest black gold and make millions. He ends up working for the prestigious Mr. Healey, and after many years of hard labor and amazing intellecual ability, he finally realizes his dream. He then owns a mansion that only one of the most wealthy in the world could own: and that's exactly what he was. Wealthy and feared, he is determined to make his handsome first-born son the President of America. This book is wonderful. The notification of stupidity mentioned in the title of this review is directed at the idiots who are questioning the whereabouts of the videotapes of the mini-series. They tapes can easily be found at over five hundred different sites simply by typing captains and the kings in a google.com search.